The Winding Road
by SailorJuri5
Summary: There comes a time in everybody's life, Rusty, where you have to look up from your narrow vision of what is and see the grander picture of what can be...
1. Chapter 1

Now hear me out! I've told a couple friends about this pairing and they've all said the same thing: "Aren't they both married/in relationships?" You have to read it but it's all explained. I was never a huge fan of Beatrix (although I have seen worst FF characters I'm looking at you, Rinoa!) but I am a huge fan of Amarant (for those of you out there who have read any of my other works) so I feel kind of bad breaking his character. But I guess that won't come in until later.

Speaking of later; it was hilarious! I had my husband pre-read this chapter but told him to stop at the line (I have a line for a chapter break in my notebook) and he said "Why? Is that where the porn starts?" Oh, come on! You think it would take one chapter for Steiner to get his leg over Lani? ...It takes more like 4 or 5 chapters... But it will be coming, thus the M rating... Assuming I actually get off my ass and write it without being hit by a wave of self-consciousness and chickening out like I always do... But I digress... Enjoy!

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Steiner dragged his feet, grudgingly following one of his underlings who tittered away about one of their prison guests. None of them would know how this day was particularly special to their Captain and how all he wanted was to crawl into bed and wonder how even after all these years he could not escape his memories. But they did expect him to be their Captain and hold his head high and work his way through whatever emotional turmoils he may encounter. He certainly would not have issue with that but why was he suddenly required to deal with this random prisoner? If they were trying to escape, then he would hunt them down and throw them back into the dungeon as they would deserve. But the only information he was getting was that they were 'particularly feisty' and claimed they know him. Lots of people would claim anything if it meant it could maybe get them out of trouble, so he did not give their report much credence.

As they entered the dungeon, he rolled his eyes. Another one of his Knights of Pluto was already talking to the captive in question. "You fools," He scolded, approaching the cell, "Must I get involved with every urchin that gets-..." He stopped, recollection touching his senses upon seeing the woman in the cage. "...Lani?"

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't ask you to bring him down here." She said, taking a few casual steps toward the back of the cage.

"I believe your exact words were 'If you bring him down here, he'll kick your ass'." The guard said. He turned to Steiner, smiling sarcastically. "So, are you going to kick my ass?"

"Lani, what are you doing here?" Steiner ignored the sarcastic remarks of his charge and placed his hand on the prison bars.

"She was found breaking into somebody's house." The guard interrupted before Lani could even draw in breath.

"A noble's house?"

"No, a commoner's house. Down by the docks."

"Why would you want to break into a commoner's house?"

"You can't break into a house you own!" Lani protested.

"You don't own it!" The errant guard bellowed, getting his face as close to the bars as he dared to emphasize his point. "Before it belonged to its current owners, it belonged to a man named Xoana, and he never had any kids!"

Lani huffed angrily.

"Did she steal anything?" Steiner asked.

"No, sir, this was the only thing she had on her." He said, holding up her over sized combat axe. "Thankfully we caught her before she could take them for all they are worth."

"I have had issue with you in the past, Lani, and thought I had set you strait." Steiner said.

"Now I'm sure you're going to tell me I'm a criminal to the core and you should lock me up and throw away the key." Lani said, leaning back against the wall of the cell.

He just stared at her harshly for a moment before turning to his assistants. "I will make sure she gets disciplined properly. Go file her weapon then return to your rounds." They both saluted him then took their leave.

"Just couldn't wait to get me alone, eh, Rusty?" She asked sarcastically.

Steiner was taken aback, that line nearly mirrored any line Zidane or Amarant might have said to him. Although Zidane had calmed down since marrying the Queen and he hadn't even seen Amarant in years now. But it was the kind of thing that made him think back to the time the eight of them were still close, before everyone had children or jobs or other obligations keeping them from dropping everything to have an adventure or even just come for a visit. He sighted inwardly, he really did not want to deal with this right now.

"Hmm, you must be having an off day." Lani said, "Normally you'd be lecturing the hell out of me."

He must have been buried in thought longer than he thought.

"Or have you just so solidly made up your mind I'm not even worth addressing?"

"If you break the law it eventually catches up to you, perhaps it's time to pay the piper." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What were you doing in that house? Tell me truthfully."

"I wasn't lying!" She pleaded, "I used to live there!" He looked at her incredulously. "Well, when I was a kid. I had a cache of money hidden under one of the floor boards. I was just going to take it and leave, I swear." she paused for a moment before turning her back to him. "But then again, I'm sure you're still going to throw the book at me. Better get used to seeing these walls-" Before she could finish her sentence she was interrupted first by the sound of keys jingling then by the loud creak of the door's rusty hinges. She turned around only to see him standing aside with the cell's door open.

"Then come with me."

"Huh, somehow I expected it to be bigger." Lani said as Steiner ushered her into the Alexandrian Royal armory. It looked like someone had remodeled a regular jail cell with wall-to-wall shelves and jammed them to the rafters with extra foot soldier breast plates and standard issue weapons. But the sheer volume of stuff in this room made it almost impossible to even enter. "Or at least less cramped. Your ranks must be very thin." She said, running her had over a stack of short swords.

"Peace treaties with Burmecia and Lindblum forbid our armies from growing beyond a certain point." Steiner said, waiting just inside the door, watching her wander between racks of weapons.

"Not surprised there."

"I will make sure all the charges against you are dropped."

She shrugged as if not sure how to answer. "...Sweet."

"Do you know where you will go?"

"I was going to go to Treno. But now that I don't have my money, I have no idea."

"You were no doubt going to use that money on evil deeds to perhaps it is best you do not have it."

She spun around to glare at him. "This coming from the guy who just sprung me from jail. Besides, I don't think buying a house is a particularly evil deed."

"You were going to buy a house?" He seemed rather taken aback at the prospect.

"I know, the hills of Treno is hardly a home owner's paradise but it's what I can afford." She shrugged, resuming her inspection of the displayed equipment.

"If you do not know where your travels will take you, then I have a proposition."

"Oh, do you?" She said, sticking her arm into a narrow slat between racks, reaching for something against the wall.

"I seem to be finding myself at a loss, I have recently had two of my Knights of Pluto retire and my ranks are unacceptable small."

"Are you asking me to become one of your knights of whatever?" She asked, straining to pull something from the bottom of the pile.

"Yes." He answered simply.

She laughed lightly, finally loosening her target piece of armor. "Sorry but I don't think I have what it takes to be a knight. Besides," She held up the commander's breast plate in front of herself. "Do you really think this would do justice to all this?" And she dropped the offending armor and motioned to her own body.

He tried his hardest not to crack a smile at the thought of her bound up inn the confining form-hugging metal bathing suit or the female Alexandrian armor. It had not really occurred to him before just how silly that armor was. Aside from the chest, it offered practically no protection. The arms and legs were both left uncovered and it was cut far too high to protect the hips even. Besides, he realized, there was no way they could modify an existing set to accommodate her rather full bust.

"I will admit though, Dame Lani sounds pretty cool." She took a moment to rub her chin thoughtfully. "Do you think I could just get knighted to get the title?"

He rolled his eyes, such disrespect.

"Is that why you brought me back here? To ask me to work for you?"

"Well and this." He reached into a pile of weapons near the door and pulled out her battle axe.

She dashed over and snatched the beloved weapon from his hands. Her hands could move that giant weapon so gracefully, even in this confined space he realized as she spun it around a couple times before returning it to the harness on her back. "Ahh," She sighed blissfully, " I feel so naked without it." He certainly did not need that mental image. "Now, riddle me this: Why are you being to nice to me?"

"You are a friend of Amarant, I feel it is the least I can do."

"Pfttt," She scowled dismissively. "I don't talk about him any more."

"Hey, Amarant is a good man."

"He ditched me, what kind of good man does that?"

"He ditched you?" He asked incredulously.

"He was next to me when I fell asleep and was gone when I woke up. I'd call that being ditched."

"That does not seem like Amarant. I'm sure there is more to it than you think."

"I would say so too if it wasn't the fourth time it'd happened." She sighed, slouching her shoulders in defeat. "I'm tired of waking up alone."

"I know the feeling." He said off handedly.

"That wifey of yours an early riser?"

His eyes widened suddenly like a deer caught in a hunter's light. He had said too much. Never before had he had loose lips, why was he letting himself slip now? "Never mind. You have your belongings, you are free to go." And he turned to leave.

With surprising speed, she dashed in front of him, blocking his exit. "Oooooh," She taunted, "Problems in paradise?"

"You rogue!" His armor clanked loudly as he shook his fist, "I release you from jail and this is how you thank me?"

"What can I say? I'm ungrateful." She shrugged apathetically. "You know it's a sad state of affairs when a wife won't even wake up with her husband. Is she even still sharing a room with you?"

"You shut your filthy gob!" He jumped up and down dramatically. "I will not have you speaking ill words of Beatrix!"

"Then again, you talk to loud, maybe she just got tired of listening to you."

Then he did something she never expected, he threw a punch at her, missing her head by mere inches and hitting the bars of the cell behind her. The heart wrenching sound of metal on metal echoed through the barren stone hallway for what seemed like ages as he stood towering over her, his breath uneven. "I will hear no more of your slander or lies." He threatened in a low voice.

Slowly the fear in her heart subsided, her heart rate returning to normal. That was quite a start! "Then set me strait." She whispered between shallow breaths.

He finally withdrew his fist, taking a step back. "I do not have to tell you anything."

"Yeah, but I can tell you want to."

"Gahhh!" He let out an exasterbated yell, taking off his gauntlet and throwing it toward the back of the armory, knocking over a stack of spears. "She left me!" He bellowed over the cacophony of tumbling weaponry. As the deafening cascade settled, he took a seat on a stack of breast plates. "She left me." He repeated. "Four years ago... today."

She took a moment to let that sink in. "I'm sorry." She said finally, taking a seat on another stack of armor across form him. "I didn't know. And believe me, I pride myself on keeping my ear to the ground."

Blood dripped from his knuckles from where the hinges of his gauntlet pierced his skin. He sat for a moment watching as the drops fell impotently to the stone floor. "Four years ago," He continued slowly, "The day after the birth of our son."

"Your son? I thought the kid was stillborn."

"That is what I had the Queen announce so the public would not think ill of her for suddenly leaving the service." Slowly he pulled off his helmet, letting it slip to the floor with a hollow clank. "As far as the public knows she labored a stillborn then went out of town for some time alone. Everyone assumed she had returned and retired, but I never saw her again." He looked up to see her staring at him in wide eyed shock. "What is wrong?"

"Your hair..." She said slowly, a smile spreading honey slow across her face, "Is gorgeous!" She had never seen his hair before and what she saw was absolutely not was she was expecting. It was long, easily down to the small of his back and looked very clean even though he kept it up under his helmet. But the most striking part was the shade, even though he had very heavy black eye brows and thick dark lashes, his hair was the most beautiful rusty red color she had ever seen. "Why would you hide something like that?" She reached out to touch it.

But he batted her hand away. "Hey, don't touch it! The Gods only know where your grubby hands have been!"

"They're not grubby." She said, looking down at her hands.

"Regardless, I do not like people touching my hair. I don't even like having it long."

"Then why grow it out?"

He sighed. "When Beatrix began showing her pregnancy she often complained of discomfort. So I offered to do something equally as discomforting. She said it looked distasteful but I promised I would cut it after our son was born." He bowed his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't see much point after she left."

"You really miss her, huh?"

He looked her strait in the eye. "To the very bottom of my heart."

As she held his gaze, she realized his eyes were not as dark as she remembered. Or maybe it was that they looked so misty. There was so much intensity, so much emotion in his gaze, she found herself unable to look away. "So why didn't you go after her?"

He again bowed his head, returning his eyes to the floor. "There must have been a reason she did not want me in her life. It seems wrong to try to force myself back into it."

"So you have no idea why she left?"

He shook his head. "Not a day goes by where it doesn't bother me."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Rusty!" She stood up suddenly, drawing him out of his wholly depressing moment. He looked up at her startled. "It comes to a point where you have to stop wallowing in the past, wondering what kind of misstep you made that changed your fate. Either let it go and move on or chase after her and find out."

"If only it was that simple."

She glared at him. "Yeah, it is that simple... In fact..." She reached up and pulled something out of the front of her shirt.

"Hey, that's my wallet!"

She rifled through the leather coin purse for a moment, pulling out a big wad of money. "Well, you've just paid for my services, we're going to go find your wife." She said, dropping the wallet onto his lap and turning to leave.

He dashed after her. "You scandalous wench!"

"Do you want to find her or not?"

"And where do you propose we look for her? She's been gone for years."

"First rule of interrogation; the most obvious source usually has the most information."


	2. Chapter 2

As was graciously pointed out by a reader, there were a few things I didn't explain or explain properly. I mean, it has been about five years since Lani was hired to follow (not kill!) Dagger, I would have thought in that time she could have come to forgive her if only because of all the other things in her life that suddenly became more important. And also in that time, they could have spent time together and even become friends. I mean she's even living in Madain Sari at the end of the game which says a lot about forgiveness on the part of Eiko and the Moogles. And let me tell you how much fun it is to write about these two characters! They both have this wonderful tendency to just say whatever comes to mind but take it in such opposite directions. Well, anyway, here's a minor rewrite to tide you over until the next chapter (which is almost done). Until then, have fun everyone...

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"What are we doing here?" Steiner sighed defeated as Lani knocked on the ornately carved wooden door of Queen Garnet's private chambers. He had been unable to find his gauntlet after he threw it in the armory so he felt unbalanced in wearing only one. Plus he had put his helmet back on in a hurry, not giving himself the chance to rearrange his hair properly so it felt all hot and sweaty against his neck and forehead. This was not how he wanted to feel when interviewing the Queen. Also he did not enjoy his company and he was certain her Majesty would not appreciate it. When did he start spending time with such rabble? He would certainly get a scolding for bringing her here.

Lani rolled her eyes. "Quit being dramatic, Rusty, I'll do all the talking."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "That is exactly what I'm worried about."

"Come on, loosen up! At worst I'll embarrass myself, so don't worry."

"As you being my guest, your embarrassment is also my embarrassment."

"Have you no faith in me?"

"No, I do not have any faith in you."

"Ya know, you have trust issues. Not everyone is trying to tarnish your good name."

He shook is fist at her, which sounded weird because of his single metal glove. "Why you!"

"Steiner?" A sweet voice came from behind the door. "Is that you out there?"

"It is indeed, your Majesty." Steiner answered, coming to attention. "I have someone here who seeks an audience with you."

"An audience? Is it someone I know?" She pushed open the door.

Lani smiled as she took in the queen. Not much had changed over the years. Her hair was still short but now was in more like a pixie cut. She hadn't gained an ounce even through two children, Lani noticed with a stab of jealousy. And most importantly, she wore a warm, happy smile. This was a very happy woman.

"Lani," She said, "It's been a long time."

Lani reached forward, taking both the Queen's hands and shaking them warmly. "Too long." She stepped back, looking her up and down. "You look amazing."

"Oh, Lani." She blushed slightly.

"Absolutely glowing! I don't think I've ever seen someone look so wonderful. Especially with all the pressure you're under. I mean, what with the kingdom, two kids, husband who may as well be a kid."

"I would say thank you, but that's the kind of thing you say when you want something." She said, stepping aside, ushering them into the chamber.

"Now whatever gave you the impression I wanted something?" Lani asked, taking a seat at the table in the center of the Queen's grandiose bedroom.

"Most people don't lay it on that thick." Garnet said with a smile.

"I do apoligize for her behavior, your majesty," Steiner said, standing at attention next to the door, "I did not mean to bring such a scoundrel here."

"Why are you always so negitive?" Lani asked, turning in her chair to glare at him.

Garnet placed her hand on Steiner's breastplate to silence him. "It is time to be nice."

"I simply remind you, your Majesty, of the threat she poses." Steiner said, "Not only as a formitable warrior but also as someone who will kill for money."

"Guys!" Garnet interjected, trying to keep the room calm.

Without standing, Lani removed her axe from it's harness, sliding it across the floor to Steiner. "There! Feel better?"

Suddenly a shrill baby's cry began eminating from the crib next to the Queen's bed. "That's what I was trying to avoid." Garnet said, walking over and hoisting the crib's tiny occupent into her arms, whispering to him softly.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to upset the baby." Lani said, "But you need to understand-"

Garnet cut her off, "Lets not go down this path."

"No, I want to get it out there. Not just because of you," She turned and glared at Steiner. "But for you too, your Majesty, I want to clear the air." She settled down into her chair. "I was hired by Queen Brahne to tail Princess Garnet and bring back the Falcon Claw. When I asked what I should do if met with resistence, she said the jem was my priority. I'll be the first to admit that I sounded perhaps a little to anxious for a fight but you have to understand, I need to convince my employers they're making the right choice or I may not get hired. And, yes, I did fight you but I never killed you and I never stole your jewel."

"Maybe so, but you did terrorize Eiko." Steiner said, "Drugging a child and taking her hostage. She told me everything."

"Is that really so different from what Beatrix did in Cleyra?" She turned and looked at him, genuine searching in her eyes. "And I didn't kill anyone." She turned back to the Queen who had taken a seat in her nursing chair. "I won't insult you by saying I'm sorry, because I'm not, it was a job. But think about it, Red got hired for the same thing and you didn't have any problems forgiving him."

Garnet shrugged. "It was a long time ago. You know, time does heal all wounds. Besides, I know Eiko forgave you, and she talks about you often."

Lani rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and you have no idea how many dishes I had to wash to earn it too." Garnet rocked in her chair, trying her hardest to calm the fussing child in her arms. He kept making faces like he wanted to cry but thankfully kept the loud noises to himself. Lani stood, walking over and leaning over the infant prince. "Come on, cutie, it's not the fussing hour."

"Would you like to hold him?"

"Are you sure thats wise, your Majesty?" Steiner asked.

Garnet smiled up at him. "I have not had a day without a diaper since Scorpio was born. If she wants to take him for a few minutes, she can have him."

"I'm surprised you don't have a nanny or something." Lani said, gently taking the baby in her arms.

"Since my sons were born, people have been encouraging me to leave them with someone else." She said, removing the spit up rag from her shoulder. "And I know I need to be keeping up with my courtly duties, I do have a whole country worth of people depending on me, but I have always felt that if one cannot take care of their children then they should not be having any. Besides, I have children to have children, not just to create the next in line for the throne."

"That's very admirable, your Majesty, I'm quite impressed."

"But then again, as tradition dictates, I must have a girl for her to ascend to the throne."

"Seriously?"

Garnet nodded. "Truly."

"The people of this country love you, somehow I doubt they would not accept your child as ruler just because he has a willy."

She cracked a smile. "That's what Zidane said. Perhaps I am just paranoid."

"Paranoid is such a strong word. There's nothing wrong with worrying about your children, and certainly not with wanting the best for them." Lani smiled down at the baby. "Besides, who would not want the absolute best for such a handsome young man!"

"You know, I am rather surprised you never had any children."

She shrugged. "I don't think kids have ever really been in the cards for me. Be it lack of time, lack of money, lack of man, lack of... desire. Besides, I think I'm getting past my childbearing years by this point."

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you'd make a wonderful mother."

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you." Lani just stood swaying slightly, swooning quietly down at the baby prince. Suddenly something warm and fuzzy touched her wrist and she started. "Oh, my god." She said, looking down as the boy's tail wrapped around her arm. "That is the cutest thing I have ever seen!"

Garnet smiled, "As much as I enjoy our visits, Lani, what did you really come for?"

She slowly sat down at the table, careful not to jar the baby. "I came representing a mutual friend."

"A mutual friend? You must mean Amarant. How is he?"

"As far as I'm concerned, he's lying in a ditch, covered in petrol, on fire."

She just stared for a moment before shrugging, deciding not to push it. "Then who are you here for?"

Lani half turned her head toward their masculine companion who still stood glaring by the door. "I'm with Mr. Negitivity over there." Steiner shifted uncomfortably but kept his eyes strait ahead.

Garnet's face fell. "It's that time of year again, isn't it?"

"It's that day again." he mumbled.

"I'm so sorry."

"You know something, don't you?" Lani asked.

Garnet didn't answer, only sat up straiter in her chair.

"Perhaps it's just my opinion," She looked down at the baby in her arms distractedly, "But it seems that you aren't really protecting anyone anymore."

"I was never protecting anyone." The Queen began slowly. "Had you asked, I would have told you everything. The simple fact is she was unhappy with her life. We had many long conversations before she left, and I can happily tell you that her problem was never with you." She could tell Steiner was grinding his teeth, still unable to look at her. "She told me the problem was with the notoriety of being married to you. How could she go from being the Mighty Female General of Alexandria to simply the wife of one of the Champions over Death? Quite frankly, I saw her point and encouraged her, told her that the first person she needed to stand up for was herself. I guess the conversations she had with you must have been more terse than I can even imagine."

"There were no conversations." Steiner mumbled, clearly upset even though he kept a very regal composure. "She left without saying a word."

"I won't defend her, what she did is inexcusable. But I will say she must have somehow thought it was what was best for her or perhaps best for Alexander."

He finally looked over at her, fire burning in his dark eyes. "She left me the day after he was born. I only got to hold him once. How could totally removing me, his father, from his life possibly be good for him!" He yelled. But he quickly regained his composure and looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, your Majesty, I don't know what came over me."

Garnet stood and walked over, standing in front of Steiner. "Don't apologize. You have never been anything but loyal to me, even sometimes bordering on zealotry. You have done more for me and my family than anyone else in the country. And you have my most sincere gratitude." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, your Majesty." Was all he managed to say.

"But your whole life has been committed to me and to this country, maybe it is time you let your life be your life." He looked at her confused. "I say this as your friend, not your Queen; lay down your knighthood, go after them." He looked down at the ground. "You have spent your entire life in servitude, you owe this to yourself."

"Besides," Lani said, standing up, "It's not like you'll be alone."

"Look, you even have a volunteer escort."

"Well, hardly a volunteer, he did pay me."

Garnet looked her up and down. "You stole money from him, didn't you?"

"You cut me to the quick, your Majesty."

Steiner glared at her. "Actually, she did."

"Hey, I may not be young anymore but my time is still worth something."

He looked around hesitantly. "I take pause not because of any insecurities in my abilities," He said, "I simply have no idea where to even start looking."

Lani thought for a moment then turned to Garnet. "I know it has been a while but can you remember Beatrix talking about any friends or relatives before she left?"

"She does not have any relatives to speak of," The Queen answered, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "And she did not speak often of friends, everyone she know was in the service."

"Damn, she had a sheltered life-"

"Language!" Garnet chided.

Lani looked sheepish. "Oops, sorry."

Garnet just rubbed her son's head gently.

"So you can't think of anyone outside of the country she might have contacted?"

"During our adventures she became rather close with Freya." Steiner said.

"You're right." Garnet cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "And now that I think about it, she mentioned a couple times how much she wished to visit her but thought she would never be welcome in Burmecia because of her military exploits."

"Well, then," Lani said, "We know where our search will begin." She turned to Garnet, carefully handing her baby back to her. "Good luck, Prince Taurus til Alexandros-Tribal, you be good to your mama, don't be too rough on your brother and," She kissed his forehead, "Be sure to give your dad hell."

"Didn't know you knew his full name."

Lani smiled impishly. "I take it that's not common knowledge."

"Their birth announcements didn't list Zidane's last name as their own."

"Or indeed even Zidane as their father. I must admit, they were very artfully worded. But how could the people understand that your bodyguard, not your husband, sired your children? Sired their future leaders? But Zidane couldn't go without having his exploits very well documented. So their birth certificates not only list their full family names but officially list him as their father."

"...Nice sales pitch."

Lani grinned. "I know, I've made a bundle off that story."

"You turn a profit off selling the Queen's family secrets?" Steiner shook his fist. "You scoundrel! How do you sleep at night?"

Garnet silenced him with a wave of her hand. "You are a very sharp woman, Lani, if you were a little more on the right side of the law, I could have seen you being a very valuable advisor."

"Yeah, but there's no money in government jobs." Lani said dismissively. "Better job security though." She turned to Steiner with a giant smile on her face. "Lets go find your wife. Next stop Burmecia!"

"Next stop Burmecia!" He repeated, dashing out the door. "Wonder if we could borrow the Red Rose?"

"Sorry, Burmecia has a very strict no fly policy." She was about to follow but a soft hand on her arm stopped her.

"I will not ask you what your intentions are with him, but I will tell you he is a very important person to a lot of people; do not let anything bad befall on him." Garnet said with utmost seriousness.

"Once they become a paying customer, their life out values mine." Lani said, "Don't worry, I'll bring him back in one piece."

"And speaking of paying customers," Garnet said with a glare, "I won't tell you to give it back as long as you promise to spend it on him."

Lani grinned. "I actually planned on it, I even already have something in mind.

"Are you coming?" Steiner's voice echoed from down the hall.

"Hey, don't get your panties in a bundle, I'm coming." She grabbed her ax from where she dropped it and ran out the door. "Besides, we have one stop to make before we hit the road."

"What could we possibly need to stop for?" He asked as she came up next to him.

She looked him up and down. "You need some new clothes."


	3. Chapter 3

Whooo! I'm back on the horse again! Man, having multiple beta readers really is good for me. Well, here's chapter three, I hope you all enjoy. And I feel I should state for the record that I edited Chapter 2 slightly, I added in a few more paragraphs and did make it better in my opinion so if you have time, check it out. And hopefully chapter 4 won't be too far behind!

I don't own Final Fantasy IX, or any of the people, places, things or ideas contained therein (as much as that would be awesome!)

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"So let me get this strait," Lani said as she and Steiner walked purposefully down the main business street of Alexandria, "It is better for the Queen's children to be bastards than for them to say they're the children of a non-noble?"

"I am but a lowly knight," Steiner said, "It is not my place to question the logic of the royal family."

Lani rolled her eyes. "You are so full of shit." Steiner started at her foul language and looked over to see her glaring at him. "Half the time you act all high and mighty and your word is law. The other half of the time you say you're just a lowly knight and your two cents is worth nothing. So which is it?"

"Oh, you stupid, simple-minded harpy!" He noisily shook his fist.

"Hey, this is the one!" Their argument was quickly forgotten as she dashed toward her target store, beckoning him to follow.

Mamy Esa's Magical Arms and Armor. Hmmm. He had never seen this store before. Had it been put up since the reconstruction? It was right on the main road, behind the old florist's stand. Perhaps his eyes were not as sharp as they used to be. He slowly walked into the shop to find Lani busily chatting up the nearly geriatric shopkeeper woman. This place actually had a decent selection, he realized as a brand new set of full plate armor caught his eye. Polished to a mirror shine, it even made the dummy that wore it look battle ready.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Lani asked, coming up next to him. "Mamy Esa's craftsmanship is top notch."

"I do say." He ran his fingers along the edge of the shoulder guard. "I am surprised he has not been recruited by the royal blacksmiths."

"She." Lani corrected. "And it would not be difficult for someone of her stature to be overlooked." She motioned to the blue-haired woman behind the counter who waved back warmly.

Steiner was actually very impressed, he wouldn't have thought an octogenarian like her would be capable of lifting a super heavy breastplate let alone craft it so finely. Maybe she used some kind of magic?

"Well, feast you eyes while you can because this is the one you'll actually be wearing." She said holding up a bizarre set of fabric armor with horizontal bands of interlocking metal going top to bottom. Although it was tied up in her hands, it clearly would go on over his head and tie up the sides with a metal belt around the waist. It had a special, clearly detachable, piece to cover the shoulders and give extra protection to his chest although it hung low enough that hip guards were unnecessary. It was the oddest set of armor he had ever seen.

"What is it?"

"It's lamellar." Lani said with a smile. "Provides protection similar to chain mail but allows for better air circulation. People who wear it swear by it."

"Maybe so but I wear full plate." He said, turning his attention to the shiny armor again.

"And that's just the problem." she stepped between him and his eye candy armor. "We are going to need to travel low profile. And full plate is rather anti-low profile, believe me." She again offered up her armor. "Will you at least try it on?"

He sighed dramatically, taking the lamellar from her hands. "I don't even like medium armor." He muttered, trudging toward the curtained off changing room next to the counter.

"Oh, bitch bitch bitch." She said, waiting outside the curtain. "Now start handing out the pieces of your armor."

He let out a defiant 'Hrumph!'

"What do you think I'm going to do with them? I just want to get them out of your way." She heard the heavy clank of his breastplate hitting the ground followed by the clear thud of him shoving it against the wall. "Don't make me come in there for it because I will!"

"You will do nothing of the sort, you manner less harlot!"

She suddenly threw open the curtain, standing defiantly in the open door of his changing booth. He gasped at the sudden motion and drew up his newly stripped shirt to cover his bare chest. "Now let me make one thing perfectly clear to you!" She said, glaring at him as he shrank slightly before her. "I know you talk like that to Zidane and Amarant but there is one key difference between them and me: I take you seriously. Zidane would just laugh it off and Amarant hoped that if he ignored you long enough, you'd just go away. I'm not like that. Our professional relationship, and I'd like to think your friendship, is very important to me." Her face softened noticeably. "I'm trying to help you here. Please don't put me down."

He paused for a moment, his eyes shifting around uncertainly. "OK... I'm sorry."

"Thank you." She said, slipping the curtain closed again.

He just stood there for a moment, shocked and unmoving, unsure of what just happened. Was he really putting her down? All he did was speak the truth. Perhaps he was too blunt? And what did she say about friendship?

"You know," Lani said, snapping him back to reality, "You are a lot thinner than your armor makes you look."

"Yeah, I've – uhhh..." He stammered, still sort of embarrassed, "I have lost some weight recently. I need to get my armor refitted."

"I'm sure Mamy Esa here could refit it for you while we're gone. But then again, then you wouldn't be able to turn down my armor."

"I don't even know how to put this on!"

"Would you like me to give you a hand, dear?" Mamy Esa asked. Although she didn't wait for a response before sliding the curtain open and stepping in. Steiner let out a startled yelp. "Oh, calm down, dear. Ms. Lani, will you take these please?" She asked, handing out the pieces of his armor.

Lani took the pieces, stacking them on the floor next to the changing booth. It seemed that Steiner had tried over the years to modify the suit himself she noted upon seeing the layers and layers of padding stuffed on the inside. She ran her fingers across a nasty looking dent on the shoulder guard he had clearly put there to refit his neck but then had to clamp with extra straps to the chest plate. The whole suit had become like a giant puzzle box that she knew she couldn't solve with a whole day. "You know, there's nothing wrong with buying a new set of armor." She said, casting the last piece into the pile.

"I happen to like that armor." Steiner said, "We've been through a lot to-GETHER!" He gasped on the last word and Lani could imagine his look of surprise.

"Stop squirming, dear, I need your inseam." Mamy Esa crooned.

Lani burst out laughing.

"How dare you laugh at me? You're not being violated, you r-..." He began cursing but the words died on his lips.

"Nice save, Rusty." Lani said between giggles.

"Well, that should be all the measurements I need." Mamy Esa's voice said and Lani swore she could hear Steiner 'Hrumph!' quietly. "Would you like a hand with the lamellar, dear?"

"That would be appreciated, Lady Esa." Steiner said, slipping back into his knight speak.

"Oh, please, its Mamy Esa."

"As you say, Mamy Esa."

"I believe this armor should work out better for you. Firstly, it looks like it shouldn't need refitting. Secondly, it offers very similar protection to metal armor but is much lighter."

Lani could hear the very distinct sound of fabric moving against fabric followed by the tightening of straps. Once it stopped, she could almost hear the sound of the wheels in Steiner's head moving as he took in his appearance. She wished so bad that she could see his reaction.

After a long moment, the curtain slid open and out stepped the knight errant in his new armor. A smile spread across Lani's face as she slowly looked him up and down. He himself looked to be built completely different in this armor than he did in his plate; rather than looking slightly portly, he looked positively built. His arms from about mid-bicep down were exposed making her think gauntlets might be in order but at least his greaves actually covered all of his legs. In general, the black, silver-accented armor made him look a lot more bad ass. But then again, his helmet was currently under Mamy Esa's arm so it wasn't covering his unruly rust-colored mop of hair which stuck out in every direction.

"What do you think, Ms. Lani?" Mamy Esa asked.

"I think I have very good taste." Lani said with a grin.

"You just can't say no to a chance at self-praise, can you, dear?" She asked, stepping around behind the counter.

"Nope!" She said, turning to Steiner who stood looking at himself in the mirror. "Not bad, I must say, Rusty. You'll just have to do something with your hair." she reached out to touch it but stopped herself. "Oh, yeah, sorry."

He looked over his shoulder in his reflection to see her looking down into a pouch around her waist. Somehow he had expected her to forget he didn't like having his hair touched. Although he had to admit with how many times he had taken off his helmet today, he did look rather like a ragamuffin.

"I thought I had a ribbon in here, I guess I don't, sorry." She slapped her hands against her thighs.

"Would Mamy Esa?" He turned around just in time to see Mamy Esa pick up the entire stack of his armor with seemingly no effort. There was certainly more to this woman than appeared. He would have to investigate further, perhaps she could be willing to share her secret to her deep well of strength.

Lani turned to look as she disappeared into the back room with the giant mass of dented and mangled armor. "Yeah, I'll ask her before we leave." She waved her hand dismissively as she turned back to Steiner. "There's one more matter we must address before we hit the bricks: we need to discuss your name."

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with my name!" He bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at Lani.

"I agree," She said calmly, "Except that you're famous. And believe me, I'm used to dealing with people who charge money for information, a lot of money. They're going to equate fame with funds, which is something we don't have. I don't think my informants are going to know you're you unless I point it out. And the best way to avoid that is to give you a new name. And don't worry, I'll only use it when dealing with my connections, any other time, I'll call you by your name."

He pursed his lips distastefully; as much as he hated it, she was right. "Fine." He turned back to the mirror. "What do you think would be a good name?"

"I suppose you could go by Rusty."

He glared back at her. "I hate that nick-name. Besides, I'm not even wearing my armor. What would make you think of that?"

She motioned to his hair. "What was I thinking?" She asked sarcastically. "OK, so that's out. Do you have any ideas?" She came around to lean on the wall next to the mirror. "Did you have any nick-names as a kid?"

"I have always just gone by Steiner. I like Steiner."

She raised her hands defensively. "I like it too, but you're not even a knight right now so it almost seems inappropriate to call you by your last name."

He rolled his eyes. "Even as a child, I was called by my family name. It is a title I carry with the greatest honor."

She smiled, letting out a breath of a laugh. "That's an odd thing to have pride in." When he looked over at her angrily, she shrugged nonchalantly. "But then again, I was never close with my family."

"If I may offer my input," Mamy Esa said coming up beside them, "You remind me of my oldest grandson. His name is Darien." She held out a black ribbon of fabric to Steiner.

He slowly took the ribbon and turned back to the mirror. As he tied his hair back in a low pony tail, he turned the name over a couple times in his head before even letting it run across his tongue. "Darien." He whispered, looking over his new appearance. "... I suppose that is not entirely disagreeable." He said after a long pause.

Lani smiled. "Darien it is then!"

"I'm glad I could be of help." Mamy Esa said. "Oh, and I took the liberty of sharpening your sword for you." She said, holding up his broad sword in its sheath.

"Thank you, Mamy Esa." He said, taking his sword and latching it across his back, the one piece of his familiar armor. He sighed sadly, he would miss it but Lani was right, it was very high profile. Although this armor rather made him look like a lowly thug. But on that same note, was it better to look like a well-equipped commoner or an unkempt knight?

As he was making his final assessments, Lani and Mamy Esa excused themselves. As much as this new outfit was already growing on him, something was missing. Perhaps gloves? He looked over at the ladies just as money was exchanging hands. Lani handed a big wad of bills to the elderly blacksmith. Hey, that was the same money she had taken from his wallet that very afternoon, she had not even unfolded it. And now she was spending it on him? That seemed rather uncharacteristic of her. _Hmm._ He thought, his eyes returning to his reflection, _I will have to thank her later._

"Well, we're good to go!" Lani sing-songed, coming up next to him.

"We are actually leaving this time?" He asked, turning to her.

"Yep, no more stops, no more stalling, nothing but you, me and the open road."

He grimaced slightly.

"Don't look so excited." She said sarcastically, turning to leave. "And put this on." She handed him his old metal gauntlet.

"Just one?"

"The uneven look is very slimming, I'm told." She said coolly, starting for the door. "I thought you'd want something familiar but you don't have to wear it if you don't want to."

He slowly slipped it on, this was going to be a very interesting trip. "Hey, wait up!" He yelled as he dashed after her.


	4. Chapter 4

Lani gasped and leaped backwards out of the way of the snapping jaws of the giant bird before her. Not moments ago the roc had Steiner in his claws and attempted to drag him away to his lair in the cliffs. But thankfully her reflexes were still with her and with a swift hack to the thigh from her ax and Steiner was back on Gaia firma. Only now it was mad and had her squarely in its sights. As the bird came back down for another snap, she swung her ax, deflecting the blow and taking a decent sized chunk out of the creature's beak.

The roc whined slightly then opened its maw and loosed a blood curdling caw that reverberated off every surface in the valley. The scream assailed Lani's senses so much she dropped her weapon and brought up her hands to cover her ears. Just as she was about to collapse, a strong arm slung around her waist, dragging her back away from the noise and the next thing she knew, she was being thrown back against the valley wall. Her eyes snapped open to see Steiner's angry face in hers. "Not only are we facing down this giant beast, you have jettisoned your weapon!" He yelled, finally drawing his broad sword from his back.

She glanced over his shoulder to see the bird quickly recovering from its injury. "We need a plan." Was all she managed to say.

He turned to the monster. "Hopefully it will be better than your plan to walk through the valley instead of staying on the cliffs."

"We'll argue about that later." Her eyes spotted her ax just as the roc spotted them. She didn't even have a second to stare down her opponent before he was coming after them. I need fifteen seconds to line up my shot." She said, her eyes snapping to Steiner's. "Go!"

Despite his ignorance to his course of action, he dashed strait toward his opponent Of course it saw him coming a prepared to snap its massive beak around him. But with a feat of agility he was surprised he possessed, he dodged out of the way with a tumble and found himself under the bird's barrel chest. Just as he was about to bury his blade it its heart, it kicked him with its taloned foot and all his sweep did was tear a few feathers out of its wing. As he rolled to a stop, he realized blood was now oozing from his side. Pain was something he could deal with, now he just hoped he had given Lani enough time to execute her plan.

Lani pushed off the wall as Steiner was dodging the bird's head and lost sight of him as he she approached her discarded weapon. Quickly she scooped it up and silently apologized to it for being so hasty in dropping it. She calmly turned to the melee before her and took a deep breath. Steiner was thankfully being very effective as a distraction and was keeping himself scarce. This wouldn't be too hard.

She lifted her ax over her head, holding the short handle between her hands. With a short steadying breath, she threw her over sized projectile toward the monster's neck.

The weapon tumbled end over end twice and embedded itself into the side of its neck. It faltered slightly and tried to let out another screech. But it came out more as a gurgled cough. _Damn!_ Lani cursed to herself. Her throw was good and as much as gore was now pouring from the wound, it had clearly not hit any major arteries so it wasn't going down yet.

Without missing a beat, her knight in formerly rusty armor took his cue. On the bird's back swing, Steiner leaped up, grabbing onto Lani's ax and, using the motion of the animal, dragged it across its jugular. As the roc gave a dying buck, Steiner's grace seemed to come to an end. With all the gore, he lost his grip on the ax and went plummeting to the ground.

Lani dashed to his side, kneeling down next to him. "Adelbert," She said, "That was awesome! Didn't know you had it in you. Are you alright?"

He kept his eyes strait ahead, his breathing uneven. "I wish I had brought more than one Hi-potion."

Lani looked sheepish. "OK, so I admit we are slightly unprepared in the healing items department but never fear! I have a secret stash." She reached back and pulled a bottle out a pouch behind her skirt cape. With a grin she offered him the multi-colored potion.

Laboriously, he made himself sit up and take the bottle. He glared at her. "All this time you had a Megalixir?"

She shrugged innocently. "I was hoping to save it but better use it now than let you bleed out."

A curse rose up in his throat but her stopped it. "Wise choice." Was all he said before taking a drought. Immediately his wounds began knitting themselves back together and he sighed in relief.

She quickly snagged the bottle from his hand as he threw himself onto his back again. "You know, those were some pretty slick moves I saw out there. I'm impressed."

He didn't respond, only let the potion work its magic on his aching body.

"If I didn't know any better I would say it's because you can move easier in your armor. Perhaps less encumbered as it were."

He looked up at her as she smugly took a sip off the bottle. "Too bad it is damaged now." He slipped his hand through the gash in the side. "Perhaps if it were made of metal it would have held up better."

"Oh, see that's the beauty of Mamy Esa's armor." She suddenly stood up, cracking the neck off the potion bottle. With a couple flicks, she emptied the remainder of the Megalixir all over the damaged armor. Right before his eyes, the gashes and dents accumulated during their fight seemed to heal themselves over with the same precision as if it were healing flesh.

"Wow, that is amazing." He said in shock. "How does it do that?"

"In Mamy Esa we trust." She said, casting the now empty bottle aside and turning to their deceased opponent. "Think there's anything we can salvage on there?"

He stood up, walking up to the bird and retrieving her ax "Not unless we intend on taking some for rations."

She shook her head. "Naw, we'll be at North Gate by nightfall. They have an inn there. And good thing too! I want to get all this blood washed off."

He slowly looked her up and down. So far as he could tell, she didn't have more than a minor splatter on her leg, not so much as a speck on her clothes, and had he not witnessed it he could not have guessed she'd even been in a battle today. But he ignored her comment and dutifully brought her her ax "This certainly has some heft to it." He commented with a grunt of effort. "I am rather impressed you can handle it with such ease."

"You want to know my secret?" She asked. She looked around suspiciously for a second before leaning in close. "I can actually barely lift it on my own."

"What do you mean?"

"My special little helper." She motioned to the clip around her waist that held on her skirt cape. "Mamy Esa made it for me. She called it an Amulet of Bulls Strength. It's her secret too actually, she always wears two of them, one around each wrist."

Steiner just hummed thoughtfully, so that was the mystery to her strength.

"Want to see?" She didn't wait for a response before reaching down and clicking the amulet right out of the buckle. The amulet was only about the size of half his palm and was shaped like and hourglass cut in half lengthwise and layed on its side. It was such an unassuming little charm from the front but the back was covered in runes which danced with an inner light. His belt was not designed with a recess to hold the charm like hers was but she didn't hesitate to tuck it behind the metal buckle.

Immediately the magic took hold of him and it seemed the weight of the ax lifted from his hands. He hefted Lani's weapon a couple times. "Now I understand its appeal." He said, trying a few times to mirror her attacks.

"Yeah, but don't tell Mamy Esa or she'll fillet me!" Lani said, reached out a dexterous hand and snatched the amulet from his belt.

With the magic gone, the weight returned to the ax causing him to stumble midswipe and fall unceremoniously to the ground. "You beastly woman!" He cursed as he crashed to his hands and knees.

She let out a light laugh as she stepped forward, gently picking up her ax as if it would break with her touch. With a slow, smooth motion, she returned it to its harness on her back. As she turned to walk away, she stopped and faced him again. "By the way, thanks for the save." She said, bowing deeply.

He stood up. "T'was nothing." She stood up, a genuine smile spread across her face. He hadn't noticed before how lovely she was when she didn't look like she was planning something.

"Well, don't let it go to your head, don't forget who the bodyguard is here."

* * *

The inn at North Gate was far tinier than Steiner expected. Thankfully Lani had been able to acquire separate rooms for them but in total this inn had perhaps six beds. It seemed in general as if the term inn was used rather loosely. But as promised they had in fact arrived before nightfall but not before dinner time and the owner had to recommission his wife to make them a modest meal. Which Lani disrespectfully walked out on. Steiner almost died of embarrassment when she asked their gracious hosts to put her food on ice while she was in the bath. But she insisted, saying the last thing she wanted was to have to argue with Steiner after eating. Besides, she continued, she enjoyed taking her time and predicted him being upset with her if he had to wait.

But it seemed despite her best efforts to the contrary, the latter would happen anyway. Steiner had waited a good half an hour after finishing his meal for her to come down and she never did. Who takes an hour to bathe? So he finally decided to go up and light a fire under her.

By the way the building had been designed, each three bedroom with shared one bathroom. There were two wings plus the private privy for the owner. His room, if one could call it that, was little more than a box with a single bed and a small window. He had had no time to gather an personal belongings before leaving Alexandria so all he had to his name was his weapon, the clothes on his back and an emergency Hi-potion he always carried. Thankfully he had procured a bar of soap and a washrag from the innkeeper so at very least he could get clean tonight.

As he slipped out of his armor, he kept his ears open for Lani possibly leaving the bathroom. He methodically removed the various pieces, folding them and stacking them on the end of the bed. Many of the pieces had gotten covered in blood from the battle earlier in the day. His old plate mail could have easily been wiped down with a rag but this would take a bit more effort. One more point for his old armor. But he did have to concede that this armor made him look better so it was worth cleaning.

Once he stripped his final article of clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist, he had officially lost his patience with his traveling companion. So he removed the ribbon from his hair and gathered his meager toiletries and headed for the bathroom.

The door stood slightly ajar and steam heat emanated from inside. Not only heat, he realized as he stood outside for a moment, some sort of noise as well. Before stepping it with averted eyes, he took a moment to listen. It seemed she was singing to herself. Such disrespect! Wasting time singing knowing he was waiting. Forget modesty, this had to be stopped!

He cracked the door open and, through half lidded eyes, peeked at her to make sure she was decent. Once he confirmed she was indeed wrapped in a towel, his indignation returned. But only momentarily as he began watching her dance obliviously in front of him. The mirror was fogged over and she seemed to be dancing with her eyes closed, pretending her comb was a microphone. "You see that guy walking by? He gave me the bedroom eye." She sang seemingly to herself as she spun crazily, "Later on I'll take him home – and slap those bedroom-!" She finally took notice of him, a look of terror crossing her soft features. But she quickly recovered, replacing her look of fear with a panicked smile. "Hands!" She completed her song.

He glared for a moment. "What is the actual line?"

"Slap those bedroom thighs." She answered, recovering her composure.

"In that case, good save."

"What? You don't want me to slap your bedroom thighs?"

He looked slightly offended. "I will accept no ill-words about my physique."

"You're right, I'm sorry. Those aren't bedroom thighs... These are bedroom thighs!" She hiked up the bottom of her towel to show every inch of her thighs. It seemed if she had gone a hair higher and she would have flashed him.

"Put that away!" He bellowed, averting his eyes. "Have you no decency!"

She burst out laughing, setting her comb on the counter. "Want me to run you a cold shower, Rusty?"

"Get out!" He demanded, ushering her to the door with enough ferocity a bystander might have thought it more like a shove. But she laughed uproariously all the way down the hall, even after he slammed the door.

_That good-for-nothing charlatan!_ He cursed to himself as he threw his items down on the counter. He picked up the small wash basin and threw its contents into the bathtub. Originally he had been concerned that she had used all the hot water but there was a series of runes running from the bath spigot to the shower head He had seen this before, it heated the water on its way up the pipe. Good thing too, he was looking forward to a nice hot shower. Or at least he was until that inconsiderate heifer decided to expose herself. Damn her! She was just trying to get under his skin.

With the basin emptied he returned it to the counter. Along the edge was a line of bath products. He picked up the first one – lavender scented shampoo. They were all lavender scented. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bar soap, face and body moisturizer, hand and foot moisturizer, hair moisturizing oil – Good Lord! Did she have anything that did not need to be moisturized? Well, it nothing else, she certainly was organized.

He looked up to the mirror only to be greeted by a big face full of fog. With a roll of his eyes, he grabbed his wash cloth and wiped it clean. As he took in his appearance, he sighed. Looked like he would need a shave. His facial hair grew much darker than his head hair so he always needed to shave at the first sign of whiskers. _What are the odds the innkeeper would have a razor I could borrow?_ He wondered. Odds were better Lani would have one. But the thought of going to see her right now was the last thing he wanted to even entertain.

With that stomach turning thought, he focused his attention on the shower.

He leaned over to the spigot and ran lukewarm water. But as he let the water run over his hand, he realized that by taking a cold shower, he'd just be letting Lani win. Besides, she was the farthest thing from his mind. So he cranked the hot water until steam began rising from the tub. Discarding his towel, he stepped under the gushing water.

The hot water felt so good on his aching muscles. He hadn't seen this much action in one day in a long time. Not since he was still with Beatrix. When they first married, they really pushed each other to stay active, to stay in shape. It was when she announced her pregnancy that things began to change. Perhaps it was her removal from the service that sealed things. Not being able to be on the field doing what she loved and being cooped up in the barracks with nothing but her thoughts made her really reflect on her life and where it was going. Had the life he was providing really been so horrible? Her Majesty did not hesitate to tell hi that he had never been the problem. But he was a large part of hr life, by saying she was unhappy with her life was also saying she was in large part unhappy with him.

Damn! He had never been such a pessimistic man before.

He ran his fingers through his long tresses as he let the water cascade over his head. It felt dry to his touch. All this sweating was no good for his hygiene. He found himself wondering if Lani would mind him using her shampoo. When she left it out she must have intended for him to use it. Well, the bottle was nowhere empty and he would go easy so he figured there was no harm. With that thought, he reached past the shower curtain and captured the bottle. Too bad it was such a womanly scent. But then again, who would be smelling his hair?

He slowly worked the viscous fluid into his hair, trying his hardest to make a little bit stretch as far as possible. It certainly did smell good for what it was and he found himself wondering if this is what Lani smelled like. She was someone who was always full of surprises.

He rinsed the suds out of his hair and put the shampoo bottle back in the line where it belonged. Perhaps he should use the conditioner too? No, he felt he was already overstepping his limits by using her shampoo, the last thing he wanted was to appear greedy. So he leaned his head against the wall under the shower head, letting the steamy water relax every muscle in his body.

As much as this adventure was about Beatrix, everything he did was for her, the face that was flashing in his mind's eye did not belong to her. The ghost of his thoughts was a vision in mahogany; deep chocolate eyes, chestnut hair and deeply tanned skin she was not too shy to show off. There was nothing shy about her. Everything she did screamed 'Behold me! Look at me! Love me!'. But when she smiled, that genuine happy smile, she could bring any man to his knees. And that moment during the battle with the great valley bird, that tiny moment his arms were wrapped around her as he pulled her out of the melee, he realized that even though she appeared so well toned, she was in fact very soft. That tiny moment stuck in his mind and he found himself wondering if those magnificent thighs she so generously showed him felt the same.

Before he could stop himself, he felt his hand grasping at his erection and beginning to stroke. Damn that woman playing at his weaknesses, damn her to hell! Within moments his breath caught in his chest and a vision of Lani in his bed, her face contorting in pleasure as he moved above her passed through his mind. But the vision was fleeting, disappearing faster than his ejaculate was running down the wall of the shower.

It took him less than a moment to regret letting his thoughts get away from him and he felt so dirty inside. "Damn, you Lani!" He cursed out loud, grabbing his wash cloth and violently scrubbing himself about the neck. "And damn me too..."


	5. Chapter 5

OK, I should probably apologize about the set up of this chapter right off the bat. I wrote it sort of in segments, not entirely sure if I wanted to make it into several interludes or just what but I eventually decided on one big chapter with a couple breaks in it. Not the best flow of anything I've ever written but there are things that I couldn't just cut out. Well, happy reading...

I do not own Final Fantasy IX or any of the people, places, things or ideas contained within. As much as that would be awesome...

* * *

The roc whined slightly then opened its maw and loosed a blood curdling caw that reverberated off every surface in the valley. The scream assailed Lani's senses so much she dropped her weapon and brought up her hands to cover her ears. Just as she was about to collapse a strong arm slung around her waist, dragging her back away from the noise and the next thing she knew she was being thrown back against the valley wall. Her eyes snapped open to see Steiner's metal-swathed face in hers. Wait a second, where did he get his armor from? "Not only are we facing down this giant beast, you have jettisoned your weapon!" He chided.

But before he could draw his sword, the roc's beak met with the back of his helmet causing him to stumble forward. Thankfully he caught himself on the stone wall before he crashed against Lani. She called out to him but her voice made no sound. He stumbled back away from her as a giant crack formed down the middle of his helm.

Just as the bird was coming back to finish the job, Steiner's armor exploded in a radiant burst of light. All the different pieces broke apart and flew off him as if sundered and cast off by his own internal flame. Lastly his helmet cracked in half, his hair bursting out in a brilliant red halo. As his armor broke apart a piece of his breastplate struck the roc's head, causing him to explode in a cascade of flower petals.

After the drama unfolded and the spots disappeared from her vision, Lani looked up to see Steiner standing proudly in his new lamelar armor. He looked back at her with a warm, happy smile. "You need to be more careful," He said, slowly approaching her, "I could not live with myself if something were to happen to you." Many words rose up in her throat but refused to move beyond her lips. As he came up to her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close. "Promise I will never lose you." He whispered as he gently laid his lips on hers.

Lani raised her arms and wrapped them around his shoulders. There was so much passion, so much intensity in that kiss that it brought a tear to her eye.

A tear that stayed even when she slid her eyes open in her tiny hotel room at North Gate. She took a moment to let the sun saturate her body before she sat up. Her breath was still shallow and tears still fell from her eyes even as the dream slipped from her mind. She slowly reached up and wiped the moisture from her eyes. "I really need to find myself a boyfriend."

* * *

Lani walked gingerly into the common room of the North Gate Inn. The sun was out, the weather was calm and it was looking like a beautiful day for travel. But she stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of her travel companion. He sat at the lone table eating his meager breakfast, his rusty hair sitting untied in a mass behind his neck.

She grimaced. She was never the type to put much stock in prophetic dreams but then again it was about a client. And a client she was very closely tied to. The last thing she needed was for things to get weird between them. So she plastered a smile on her face and came up behind him, slapping him playfully on the back. "Good morning!" She piped, coming around the table. "I certainly hope you slept well- Oh, my god!" She stopped upon taking in his appearance. He looked like he'd just spent the night in hell. His hair hand clearly not been brushed, his eyes looked blood shot and distant even as he looked at her, and he he had put his armor on very slapdash and hasty. To top it all off, he had angry red abrasions all around his neck. "What happened to you? Wake up on a bed of angry cats?" She sat down across from him.

He shifted his eyes uncertainly. "Umm..."

She clapped her hands together. "Oh, I know what this is!"

His ocular shifting continued. "Oh, do you?"

"You used my shampoo, didn't you?"

"I thought you-... Yes, I-I did..."

She sighed. "It's OK, I left it out for you. You can't take care of such beautiful hair with only water! But I've seen this before..." She paused with a sheepish look. "You're allergic to lavender."

He started, that was an unexpected answer. "What?"

She looked away embarrassed. "The same thing happened to Eiko when she used my bath products. She's allergic to lavender flowers. I didn't know this when I gave it to her but she got out of the bath and had these big 'ol rashes around her neck," She motioned to her neck with both fists. But she looked up at him sadly. "I never would have given it to her if I had know that would happen. I didn't even have any lotion I could give her because everything I have is lavender scented! What can I say? I like lavender. Not just in soaps either. Have you ever seen wild lavender flowers? The have these big stalks like this."

She continued prattling, talking very much with her hands as Steiner tried his hardest to hide his distraction. He had had impure thoughts about this woman and for that he was extremely embarrassed. But as much as she talked a lot, she did not usually have such a proverbial motor mouth. Was something bothering her? Best to play it cool and not draw attention. The more time he put between his indiscretions and anyone figuring it out, the better.

"So what do you thing?" She asked finally.

"I'm sorry, what?" He snapped back to reality.

She smiled. "You seem distracted this morning."

"Ummm-" He steeled himself for the worst.

"That's OK, we all have those days." She reassured him.

_Not like this._ He thought, returning to his breakfast.

"So here's the plan." She continued, "This time of year there aren't many caravans or anything moving toward Burmecia so it looks like we'll be on our own. Which is fine, that means fewer people to fight with."

"And that is what you are concerned about? Fighting with teamsters?"

"Well," She looked distractedly down at the table, her finger tracing the wood grains. "I've been told I can be rather abrasive."

"Abrasive? Who told you that?"

"The teamsters for one. But Amarant too, all the time actually."

"Why would he say something like that?" He demanded, drawing her eyes up to him. "You are certainly a hoodlum and a ne'er-do-well, but you are not abrasive."

She looked at him side-long. "Are you trying to be nice to me?"

He huffed and looked away. "What I am trying to say is that you are nothing but a honey-tongued seductress!"

She laughed lightly. "I get what you're trying to say." He looked up at her to see her tapping her chin thoughtfully, a big grin on her face. "Hmmmm... Honey-tongued seductress... I kinda like how that sounds."

"It suits you." He said. Only after he said it did he realize how sincere he sounded. They locked eyes for a moment. Did he see the slightest of blushes cross her cheeks? As they held each other's gazes, he suddenly found himself wanting to reach out and touch her cheek.

But before the impulse truly took hold, she thankfully looked away. "Well, we have a lot of work to do before we can leave." She said, standing up and reaching into the front of her shirt. She certainly kept a lot of her personal belongings in there and Steiner found himself wondering to the extent of items she hat between her bosoms. But he nipped that thought in the bud and covered his eyes with his ungloved hand in both pain and embarrassment. "Here, take this." She continued, ignoring his brightly blushing face and dropping a small coin purse on the table in front of him. "There's an item shop at the other end of the compound, go buy as many potions as we can carry and meet me back here when you're done."

"Dare I ask what you shall be doing?" He asked in his usual snippy tone although he kept his face hidden behind his hand.

"I'm going to pay our bill and collect some rations for the trip." She said, putting her hands on her hips in a manner reminiscent of Eiko.

"Well, then," He said standing up, "Carry on."

"I'm not sure how much I appreciate you always assuming I'm going to be doing something bad or illegal."

"I have given you many opportunities to prove me wrong and all you have done is prove me more right." He brushed past her toward the exit.

She just glared at him for a second, letting her rage seethe. "I'll be sure to get a receipt."

* * *

"Hmmm..." Steiner hummed thoughtfully, "This appears to go back at least six months." He muttered, slowly leafing back through the sign-in book of the North Gate Inn. Under Lani's instruction, he had gone out and gotten the largest bag of holding this town possessed and filled it absolutely to bursting with potions. What did she think they were going to need all these healing items for? It is certainly a shorter hike from North Gate to Burmecia than it was from Alexandria to North Gate. And more importantly, where did she get the money for this? Because if she thought he was going to give her one more thin gil, she was sorely mistaken.

Suddenly there was a weight draped across his shoulders and a sultry voice purring in his ear. "Hey, there, sailor, going my way?"

His face dropped. "Not if you do not remove yourself immediately."

She slowly removed her arms from his shoulders, being sure to stay in physical contact as long as possible. "You are such a kill joy." Lani whined, taking a step back. He only glared at her. She quickly perked up. "So you get those potions?"

He pulled the back of holding off his shoulder and slung it open to show her its bounty. "I believe we now have enough potions to last us until the rapture."

"Then maybe we should get some more, because you know if the rapture happens, I'll be left here all alone." He looked down at her only to see her smiling pleasantly. Did she always have such a grim sense of humor? "So what are you looking at?" She asked, moving his hand off the sign-in book.

"I was simply pondering about the absence of our names in the Inn's registry."

"Absence? What are you talking about? We're right there." She said, pointing to the last set of names on the list. In a very light-handed and airy script it read _Darien Dumas & Lena Xoana_. "Now I know what you're thinking." She made a mocking angry face. "How dare you, you evil inhuman monster!" She shook her finger. "How could you take the majesty that is me and all I stand for and reduce it to such a peasant's title?"

He huffed angrily and glared at her. "That is not what I was going to say! What I was going to say was that I-..." he hesitated for a moment, confusion overcoming him. "Do I truly sound like that?"

"Well, let's see. What have you called me so far? A heifer, a hoodlum, a wench-"

"Do not answer that." He tried to interrupt her but she continued anyway.

"A harpy, a charlatan-"

He silenced her with a wave of his hand. "Enough!" She only grinned. "I was going to say that you touched previously on how I must accept a pseudonym, and the more I think it over the more I understand how necessary it is, I was simply unaware that you had also chosen a family name for me."

"It was rather spur of the moment," She said with a shrug. "I was just going to give us the same last name but I didn't want people to think we were married, especially with the way we act."

"If you do in fact want to lie to people in such a fashion, you could simply say we are related."

"I thought of that too but I just don't think we look enough alike."

"Fair enough, you are the underworld expert." He finally conceded. "But I must inquire; why do you feel you need an alias?"

"This is the bounty game that we play." She said with a sort of practiced grace, as if this were a mantra she woke up to every morning.

"I do not understand."

She looked away, as if searching for words. "It's the line you walk for being famous for something illegal."

He cocked his head to the side quizzically. She knew this would be his only invitation to continue.

"You see, we are the best in the biz, Amarant and I. Even Queen Brahne thought so. But with that notoriety comes danger. There are so many other bounty hunters and street hustlers and informations brokers and all the others who would love nothing more than to take that title from us. By any means necessary." She paused for dramatic effect. "But at the same time, we have to be accessible to potential customers. It is a pretty fine line we walk." She turned and began heading for the door.

"Then why do you do it?" He asked her retreating figure. "Why do you continually put yourself in danger?"

"Danger had never been my issue." She said, stopping in the doorway but not turning to him. "My father once told me that even if there were only two people left in this world, someone would want someone dead." She let out a mirthless chuckle, "This job will lose me long before I lose this job." She finally spun on her toes to face him, a big grin on her face. "Besides, were I not here, who would be willing to help you find your wife?"

"And in that respect..." He hesitated, bracing himself for the words he knew he must say, "You have my most sincere gratitude."

She smiled. "Think nothing of it, Adelbert, I'm happy to help."

"But I must ask; what is in this for you?" Her smile faded slightly at his inquiry. "Do not think it slipped my notice when you spent all the money you pilfered from me on this armor."

Her overly dramatic fake smile returned and she began shifting from foot to foot playfully. "Do you want the long answer or the short one?"

"I want the honest one." He said, beginning to lose his patience.

"Oh, alright, I'll give you both. Short answer: I like knowing there are men out there who are at least a little more upright than Amarant."

He gave her a moment to continue but she just stood there shifting her weight playfully. "And the long answer?"

She locked eyes with him. "Because there comes a time in everybody's life, Rusty, whey you have to look up from your narrow vision of what is and see the grander picture of what can be..."

* * *

ooooh, finally getting some relationship development! I, for one, am excited. Also hopefully I can keep the creative juices and get the next chapter up soon. I'm not a giant slouch, I promise... only a regular sized slouch...


	6. Chapter 6

Freya let out a relaxed sigh, taking slight amusement in the cloud of dust that the carpet released. The rug was not nearly as clean as she had been put under the impression it was. She supposed she would have to have a good, long talk with her "Maid" of the week. But with that thought, a burning pain passed through her lumbar, reminding her why she was laying on the living room floor to begin with. Before the swell could pass, she tensed the muscles in her back, bringing her upper half as far up off the ground as she could without the assistance of her arms. The doctor said it would help with the spasms but so far all it had done was give her rippling lats.

Suddenly, her rodent ears perked up. Her garden gate squeaked open and two pairs of very heavy feet began approaching her house. Were she more young and spritely, she probably would have launched herself up and met her mystery guests at the door with lance in hand. But in her current state all she could do was labor herself to her feet just in time for the heavy knock of an armored hand to echo through her empty house. "Just a moment!" She said in the sweetest voice she could muster as she cracked her vertebrae loud enough to send vermin scurrying.

"I told you she would be here." A masculine voice on the other side of the door said in a hushed tone.

Freya immediately perked up. Despite years in its absence, she knew that voice. That voice would echo through her mind for the rest of her life. "Adelbert Steiner," She stood up as straight as she could and dashed over to the door, throwing it open. But before any other words could rise up in her throat, she was stunned silent by the image before her. It was in fact the Alexandrian knight from their old adventures who stood before her but this was certainly not what she was expecting. Had she not known his voice, she probably would not have recognized this man. Firstly, somewhere along the line he had cast off his regal armor for a more common banded mail and fabric set. He had even decided to go without a helmet. Now she knew she had been one of the few people to ever see him without it but back then he had his hair kept buzzed as was expected in the military. How he stood before her was certainly a far cry from what he had been back then. And not just because of his change in appearance but because of the company he kept. The woman at his side was not his wife, nor even his charge. It was in fact the bounty hunter Lani. Seeing her again sent shivers up her spine.

"My Lady Freya," Steiner said, dropping respectfully to one knee in front of her, "Far too long has passed since our last meeting. I hope that the years have found you well."

"Most valiant Steiner," Freya, said, also dropping to one knee respectfully, "While the years have been beyond kind to me, I feel like a less than adequate friend for my absence not only in your life but also in the life of her Majesty the Queen. Please accept my sincere apologies, life got in the way."

"Please, do not trouble yourself with concerns of her Majesty; you have your own King to worry about." They both slowly looked up, locking eyes. A small smile appeared on both their faces as something clearly unspoken passed between them.

After a moment, Lani bent down slightly and smiled. "Sorry for not joining the kneeling on the floor club but, uhh," She said, lightly tapping her knees, "Bad knees."

Steiner sighed and stood up. "I believe you remember Lani."

Freya also returned to her feet. "I believe we crossed paths once or twice." She bowed her head slightly at the bounty hunter as if that was all she had to say to her. "Please excuse my inhospitable behavior, please come in." She said, standing aside and ushering them into her house.

Her house was certainly not big by any definition although it seemed very lived-in. The modest sitting room's two couches appeared like they had seen their share of rough housing, the fire place its share of warm fires. A narrow stair case went up from the humble kitchen, no doubt leading to the house's handful of bedrooms. Two lances leaned against the wall of the kitchen, reminding Steiner of the two Dragon Knights that took up residence in this place, but the well-groomed gardens in front spoke loudly of at least one retired resident. While the décor was very Spartan, the whole places just screamed Freya.

"You have a lovely house." Steiner said.

"Thank you," She said, motioning each of them to one of the six chairs around the kitchen table, "When Sir Fratley and I moved in, this was little more than a dusty house in the unoccupied end of town, but together we transformed it into a home." She said, starting a fire in the stove and placing the tea kettle on it.

"Speaking of Sir Fratley, where is the master of the house?" Steiner asked with a big grin.

"Unfortunately, he is no longer with us." Freya said, still busying herself with the stove.

Steiner's entire form dropped. "My deepest condolences, my lady, I was never informed."

"Very few were." She said, carefully lowering herself into a chair. "With his history of wandering off and the hubbub that usually surrounded it, both his Majesty and I thought it best that when he died he simply…" She paused, slowly gliding her hand toward the window, "Sail silently into the night."

"If I may ask," Steiner asked after a moment, "What took him?"

"No one really knows." Freya answered, seeming to finally return to the here and now. "Whatever ravaged his memory took his body and eventually his life. He spent the last years of his life as little more than a vegetable, waking up every few days only to wander aimlessly around the city for a handful of hours as if caught in a fog."

"How unfortunate." Was all he managed to say.

"It was a truly tragic end to such a mighty warrior." She said almost off-handedly. "Thankfully, the worst burden he left me, I did not bear alone." She said, perking up slightly. "The true terror of whatever had befallen him had just taken hold when I bore him our first mischief of children. I do not think I would have made it had it not been for your lady wife." She bowed slightly to Steiner.

Steiner's eyes widened at her unprovoked statement about Beatrix. He glanced over at Lani only to see her staring back equally as confused. He found himself at a loss. Should he be polite and ask her about her children or capitalize on her bringing up Beatrix and get to the point?

"Please send her my warmest regards."

"I-… I-umm-…" Steiner muttered.

"I'm sure he would," Lani piped up, "Had she gone back to Alexandria."

Freya gave her a hard look. "I beg your pardon?"

"She means," Steiner said, finally finding his voice, "She never returned home." He looked up at her, his eyes misty. "I have not seen my wife in over four years. If you have any information as to her whereabouts, I beg you to divulge it."

Freya glanced confusedly between her two guests. "I-… uhh-" Thankfully her awkward rambling was interrupted by the whistle of the tea kettle.

As Freya moved to stand, Lani excused herself from the table and walked over to the stove. "How about we start at the top," She said pulling the steaming kettle from the flame. "You have children?"

Freya seemed stunned by the question. "Yes," She answered, turning in her seat to watch as Lani began searching the cabinets. "Fratley and I have four beautiful children. They should be returning home from their lessons soon."

"And Beatrix helped you raise them?" She asked, pulling the French press from the cabinet.

"No, only my first three." She turned back to Steiner. "I thought it rather odd at the time that she would travel so far by herself with an infant in tow but she said she wanted some time to bond with her son. Being a new mother myself at the time, I understood the feeling."

Steiner numbly looked down at his hands, letting this knowledge sink in.

"I did not turn her away because, with Fratley's failing health, I effectively had four dependants to care for. I needed all the help I could get."

"How long was she here?" Lani asked when Steiner said nothing.

"Perhaps six months." She answered to Steiner as if he had asked the question.

"This may seem like a very personal question," Lani said, setting a tray with three mugs and a fully prepared coffee pot on the table, "But did she give any indication that things in her relationship were going south?"

"No, in fact she spoke of you often. Spoke fondly of you even. And when she left, she seemed so excited about seeing you."

"So she didn't give any reason as to why she left home to begin with?" She asked, pouring herself a cup and taking a seat.

"Not that I can remember." She paused, tapping the table thoughtfully. "It was just so long ago."

Silence stretched out through the whole house. Lani slowly poured a cup of the caffeinated beverage for the red-headed knight, sliding it into his shaking hands. This was the first time either of these women had seen this man truly without words. Impotent rage boiled just below the surface but without a legitimate target, words were useless.

"May ask for some background on the situation?" Freya asked finally turning to Lani.

"There really isn't any." She answered, knocking back half her beverage. "Maybe Rusty just doesn't want to talk about it but so far as I can tell, the missus quit the service during her pregnancy, lost her patience with the easy life, and hit the bricks the moment Junior was born."

"Alexander!" Steiner bellowed, banging his hands on the table. "My son's name is Alexander!"

"Commander, we're home!" A juvenile voice piped from the living room as sounds of bustling and merriment suddenly filled the house.

"What timing." Freya said hastily excusing herself.

Lani stood up and came around to stand next to Steiner. She gently put her hand on his shoulder and bent down to look in his eyes. "Are you OK?" She whispered, "Do you need a minute?"

He took in a deep breath and puffed up his chest as much as he could. After holding it for a moment, he slowly let it out and shook his head.

"Good to hear we haven't lost you yet!"

"Ranks assemble!" Freya's voice cut through from the other room.

Lani turned and slowly entered the living room. Three Burmecian youngsters lined up at attention along the main wall. One girl sandwiched between two boys. They all appeared to be about seven years old. Wait, didn't Freya mention they were only about four? Must investigate further. They all wore some sort of military cadet's uniform and looked like miniature soldiers.

An accusing look graced Freya's face as she paced slowly in front of them. "One, two, three… Where's four?"

The first boy sniggered quietly. After a moment the last boy sighed. "Galahad shoved him through the hole in the garden fence again." He said not breaking his attention.

She glared at the first boy. "One of these days he is going to do something mean to you and I am not going to be one bit surprised." With that she dashed out the door.

"Come on, you must admit, that was pretty good." The first boy said, turning to his siblings.

"Perhaps if you consider torturing your brother to be 'good'." The last boy said not looking at him.

"Who are you?" The girl asked, finally drawing attention to the strangers in the room.

"I am Adelbert Steiner," Steiner said trying to sound as formal as possible as he stepped past Lani, "Captain of the Knights of Pluto."

"You do not look like a Knight." The first boy said crossing his arms.

He glared at the boy, his rage still not dissipating. "Discretion required I leave my armor in Alexandria."

"You are not from Alexandria!"

"Now who do you think you are!" Steiner bellowed, shaking his fists at the boy who stared him down unafraid.

"Wait a moment, did you say Adelbert Steiner?" The girl asked.

"Indeed I did."

"You used to work with my mother."

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose."

All three of them dropped to one knee in front of him. "I apologize for my earlier behavior, Sir Steiner."

"Think nothing of it." Steiner clipped out, letting his anger subside.

"My name if Galahad," The first boy said, springing up. "And you and Lady Beatrix are my greatest inspirations! I'm going to be a knight myself someday! You must show me how you train!" The boy continued prattling and jumping up and down excitedly. Steiner even had to put his hands out defensively to keep him from jumping on him.

"Thankfully for you, Galahad," Freya said, walking in the door, "No one is bleeding so I will look past this infraction as long as you apologize to your brother."

Galahad scoffed loudly and turned to the cloaked figure who walked in behind his mother. "Sorry!" He barked before angrily stomping back into line.

"And do not think that I am done having words with you! We must address the sorry state of this floor." Galahad looked slightly embarrassed. "But before that, perhaps formal introductions are in order." With that the last child stepped into line and tried to copy the practiced motion of his clearly older siblings as they saluted the two Alexandrian travelers. This child looked very different than the others, not only because instead of wearing a military uniform he wore the vestments of a priest in training, but physically he was built differently. His arms appeared longer, his legs shorter than those of the average Burmecian. Although he was clearly younger than the other children, he already stood nearly as tall as them. But his most striking feature was the one he seemed to be trying his hardest to hide; from under his hood, spikes of blood red hair framed his unusually flat rodent face. Was he not currently being told as such, Steiner probably would not have believed these four children were related. But Freya smiled brightly and straightened her back, starting at the beginning of the line. "These are my children: Galahad, Morgana, Bedivere and Bors." She finally looked up at her guests, her look of utter joy melting into confusion. "Lani, is something the matter?"

Steiner looked back at Lani. A look of sheet terror adorned her face, her hand covering her agape mouth. Her eyes were locked squarely on the youngest boy Bors. What was the problem? Sure the boy looked a little different but was that really worth such a panicked reaction? He did not really look any different than… Suddenly a realization struck him like a half-brick to the base of the skull and he gasped.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." Lani rasped, clearly on the edge of tears, as she hastily dashed out the open door.

All he could do was sputter for a moment, his eyes darting between the bewildered Freya and the open door. But feeling his higher priority was keeping his escort from running for the hills than maintaining the hospitality of his host, he blurted out: "Please excuse me!" And ran after Lani.

He caught up with her just as she turned out of the garden and onto the empty dirt road. By now she had brought up both her hands to cover her mouth as if they could hold in her sobs. She stumbled and caught herself on the fence post, her feet stuck somewhere between her desire to run and the crushing weight of this knowledge. He kept repeating her name as he came up behind her as if just hearing it would somehow help anchor her to reality. But as he tried to put his hand on her back, she spun around, attempting to throw a punch. But her attack was unbalanced as her walk and he easily caught her fist in his hand. She followed the momentum of her swing, falling against his chest where finally she let her cries go, great sobs wracking her body. A handful of times she struck the fist that was not already tightly bound in his metal-gloved hand impotently against his armor. These blows were not meant to harm, they were not even aimed at him. There was no helping her right now beyond wrapping his arm around her and holding her sobbing form against him.

"You saw him, didn't you?" She asked as coherency in her voice finally returned.

Steiner nodded. "I did. But perhaps everything is not as it seems, perhaps-"

She cut him off. "You cannot share a bed with someone for this long and not be able to pick out their features."

He had nothing to say to that, especially when the features were as distinguished as those.

"Lani!" Freya said, trotting down her garden path to join them.

Lani turned her face away from the other woman, pressing he cheek against Steiner's armor. "Tell me honestly," She croaked, again on the edge of tears, "Is Bors Am-… Is Amarant his…" She couldn't force the words out.

Freya nonetheless caught on and nodded. "Amarant is his father."

"How could you commit such acts of infidelity against your husband, my lady?" Steiner asked, displaying at least a little of the indignity Lani seemed to be incapable of showing. "How could you have another man's child?"

"I loved Fratley!" Freya yelled, making Lani wince even though she still couldn't look at her. "But watching him slowly die was not something I could gracefully handle. Your lady wife helped me hold myself and my children together but…" She paused, looking down embarrassed. "I loved my husband; to this day I wear his wedding band. But as he declined, he could no longer… Physically comfort me. Amarant could… And did…"

Lani finally turned to face her.

"It was a fling, we were only intimate perhaps a handful of times." She took a step closer. "I remember asking about you. I asked if there was a relationship between you. He told me no, he said you were little more than a combat partner."

Slowly, Steiner felt Lani's fist relax in his. As it did, her fingers gradually threaded through his, seeking comfort wherever they could find it.

"I am not proud of what I did but let me make one thing perfectly clear: I love my son."

Lani finally pulled away from Steiner although she did not let go of his hand. Slowly she reached out and put her hand on Freya's shoulder. "He is about the only really faultless person here."

Freya smiled sadly and placed her hand on top of Lani's. "If it makes you feel any better, my pregnancy with Bors wreaked havoc on my body. I will spend the rest of my life with chronic muscle and bone issues."

Lani smiled momentarily but quickly shook her head. "It really doesn't."

"Is there anything I can say?"

Lani's face steeled slightly. "Beatrix was here about four years ago, correct?"

Freya nodded.

"About how long was she here?"

"As I said before; about half a year, give or take."

Lani thought for a moment, withdrawing her hand from Freya's shoulder. "That would be around the time Bors was conceived."

"Approximately. Amarant was very in and out of my life back then."

"Did Beatrix give any indication as to where she was going when she left?"

"I had assumed back to Alexandria, she headed south toward North Gate."

"Did she and Amarant leave together?"

"Maybe? Not that I recall."

"Could they have met up on the road?"

"Maybe. What does it matter?"

"Maybe he influenced her not to go back to Alexandria." She looked up at Steiner who looked back at her perplexed. "Gizmaluke's Grotto is also to the south; maybe he talked her into following him to Lindblum."

"That seems like a stretch."

"Stretch or not, she's clearly not here. And that's the best lead we have." Finally she detached herself from Steiner who looked very hesitant to let her go. But once he was certain she was stable on her feet, he took a step back.

"Will you please stay for dinner?" Freya pleaded as Lani turned to leave.

"No, I think I need to walk this off."

"Would you like me to come with you?" Steiner asked.

"No, I want to be alone for a while; you stay with Freya and the kids." She turned to leave. "Besides, my apology will sound a lot better coming out of your mouth." She said as she sauntered away.

* * *

Whoo, next chapter done!

Thank you to those few who have left comments, I absolutely welcome constructive criticisms. My problem is that my beta reader is also my husband and I think he thinks that any ill word about my work will shatter my confidence or something so his biggest issues are more like "I don't think Amarant and Freya would have compatible enough physiology to breed"(conversation topics) rather than things I actually need like "Steiner is out of character here"(something that will make me look critically back on my work). Once again, I welcome all comments, good or ill.

And also, I'd like to do something a little different with the next chapter. I have two directions I could go with the story. The one I'd like to do is a decently long conversation between Lani and Bors. I'd like to do it because it would show a lot of family dynamic with Freya and her children and would show Lani closing the book on her relationship with Amarant. However, it really won't add that much to the story and anything Lani has to say can just be said if I continue with Steiner and Lani's adventure as was the original plan. But I'm a sucker for good stories so either one would make me happy. If anyone wants to leave their opinion in the comments that's what I'll do.

And I want to apologize in advance because I have another project I've been putting off because of this one and I really need to work on it for a while so I'm sorry if it takes a while to update again.

Happy reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Lani never came back. The evening in Freya's house had been terse and mostly wordless. There were few people in the world Steiner understood better than Freya but he had gotten the sinking feeling he had revealed some secrets that the family was not ready to face. On several occasions, Bors had opened his mouth as if to ask something of their knightly guest only to be glared into silence by his oldest brother. There was a family dynamic in play here he didn't understand. And Freya had no control over. She was a very good mother but she was raising some very feisty kids.

And when he did finally arrive at the hotel, he had been unable to confirm Lani had ever returned. But simply the fact that he had a room waiting said that she was around somewhere. That was enough to give him hope. He did not want to think about what was going through her mind, the kind of hurt and betrayal she was working through. Now he was bookended by women with guilty consciouses and seemingly no end in sight.

But now, as he neatly hung his armor in the closet, he found himself at a crossroads; should he stay and assist his comrade and help clean up the mess he created or continue the search for his beloved, with or without Lani's assistance? On that note, he did not have the knowledge or the resources to find his wife let alone the slippery bounty hunter, especially if she did not wish to be found. He could not in good conscious leave without a few final words with her.

Suddenly his thoughts were brought to a halt by a soft rapping on the door. He turned toward the door, slightly perplexed. But he quickly regained his wits, there was only one person it could be. He took a moment to hastily stuff all the outlying pieces of his armor into the closet and shut it. He then stepped to the door and threw it open.

Lani stood in the hallway, smiling sweetly at him. She must have just taken a bath because the hair she had clipped against the back of her head was damp. Rather than wearing her adventurer's outfit, she was swathed in a white silk robe that, despite the fact it hung a little above her knees, looked very conservative. Well, conservative for her anyway. She just stood there regarding him silently with her arms tucked behind her back.

"Hello, Lani." He said after a moment. "I was not expecting you to come by." He stepped aside, allowing her into the room.

"What? Did you think I was just going to ditch you?" Lani asked.

"I was hoping not but was preparing for the worst." She looked away, her smile fading noticeably. He cleared his throat, that came out wrong. "So," He continued, "What brings you here?"

"I have something for you." She said, her smile returning.

"For me?" She finally pulled one arm from behind her back, holding out a small white vial. A smile spread across his face as he read the label. "Lightly lavender scented hypoallergenic lotion."

"I thought you would appreciate it."

He rolled his eyes but took the bottle. "I must be honest, I am not in fact allergic to lavender. I simply scrubbed too hard."

"Well, either way, you need it."

He touched his neck, it was still a little red. But he quickly recovered and turned away, placing the bottle on the vanity. "Did you honestly just come here to bring me lotion?"

"Actually..." She trailed off. He turned back to see her pull a hair brush from behind her back. "Please? Just this once?" He sighed. "Oh, come one! I washed my hands four times!" She offered her hands which were indeed very clean.

He glanced at her hands and sighed. "How can I deny you?"

She squealed happily. He rolled his eyes, somehow feeling he was going to regret this. "Here, have a seat." She ushered him to the chair facing the vanity. As he took a seat, she slipped the ribbon from his hair and simply ran her fingers through his cinnamon locks. "Your hair is so thick. I'm jealous!"

"I thought you wanted to brush my hair, not molest it."

"I'm getting there, don't rush me."

He sighed and looked up at her in the mirror. As she massaged his hair, she looked almost giddy. She certainly had bizarre ways of dealing with emotional turmoil. Finally her brush met his hair, drawing an almost ecstatic sigh from her. "You are enjoying yourself a bit more than I would like."

"Hey! I have very thin hair that likes to fall out a lot so I don't really like to style it. So just shut up and enjoy it!" She smiled wickedly, "Besides, some people pay a lot of money for service like this."

"I am not that kind of person."

"Then I guess I'll just have to take it out of the money you already gave me."

"You mean you stole. Besides, you and I both know that money was gone a long time ago."

"Well, good thing I do pro-boner work." He looked at her confused in the mirror. "You heard me." She said with a smile.

She continued her work uninterrupted for several minutes, her skillful fingers working through several snarls even his rough combing had left behind. Perhaps since she was here and already working on his hair he should ask her to use some of her hair products. He always wore his helmet before so the appearance of his hair was always pretty far from his mind but with the head covering discarded, he was becoming more concerned with his appearance. No! Business was more important right now!

"So..." He began slowly, "Did you enjoy your walk this evening?"

"I did indeed." She answered.

"Where did your travels take you?"

She shrugged. "Here and there. I've never spent much time in Burmecia so it was nice to finally be able to see the sights."

"You should have come back for dinner, I am sure Bors had may questions to ask you."

"I have nothing to say to him." She said simply, her good natured humor beginning to slip.

"How can you say such a thing?" He asked, an edge to his voice. But he caught himself and backed down. "You said yourself he is faultless."

"Faultless or not, you need to understand something; I've committed a lot of my adult life to Amarant and finding out he had a child with another woman..." She trailed off, pulling her hair brush particularly aggressively. When he winced in pain, she continued. "It's just such a slap in the face."

"I am sure no one meant you any offense."

"Meant or not, offense was achieved." She sighed, resuming her slow, gentle strokes. "Let me put it to you this way: imagine that once you finally find Beatrix, she tells you Alexander isn't your son."

"But he is my son."

"I know he is, but just use your imagination. I know it's in there somewhere!" She said, tapping him on the top of his head with her finger. "How do you think you would feel?"

_How would I feel?_ Steiner thought to himself, letting his eyes drift down to his own in the mirror. There had never been a doubt in his mind that Alexander was his son for he was the only man in his wife's life. He was effectively the only man in the entire Alexandria Palace. Besides perhaps his soldiers and the Queen's Consort. And all of them had either the sense or the self-preservation to stay away from her. But she had left him without warning. Was it out of guilt or the desire to keep a secret? No! She loved him and whatever the reason for her sudden exodus had nothing to do with the identity of Alexander's father. But he couldn't help as the image of Beatrix holding hands with a youngster only four years old and already nearly as tall as her, with pale blue skin and sporting a shock of bright red hair rose up in his mind. With a violent shake of his head, he banished those thoughts and turned his attention back to Lani. "I thought you said you didn't want kids."

Lani shrugged. "I don't now, I did maybe five years ago." She sighed. "I wouldn't even be so upset if he hadn't have lied to me."

"Lied about what?"

She deflated slightly, her hands falling limply on his shoulders. Clearly this was something she did not want to talk about. But the question had been asked and he was not backing off. "I told him I wanted kids, that I was ready to have a family, back when you guys returned from Memoria." She began, returning to her slow steady pulls through his hair. "He said 'Nothing like a brush with death to make you see your mortality'. But he was very insistent that he didn't want kids. He kept saying 'Look what I came from'." She stopped for a moment, suddenly looking very distant. "I never understood what that meant... Well, anyway," She continued, her brush returning to his head. "I wanted him to be the father; if he didn't want to be daddy, he didn't have to be. And I told him this. But he kept hesitating, kept fighting me, kept putting it off. Until finally I told him that I was going to have my runes removed and let fate take it's course."

"Wait, runes?"

"Yeah, it's a contraceptive seal, tactfully titled my 'Baby-no-more Runes'." She traced her finger over he lower abdomen. "It's a little circle right below my belly-button. I would offer to show you but I'm pretty sure you'd scold me for being obscene."

He pursed his lips distastefully, which drew a short giggle out of her.

"But anyway!" She continued, "I told him I was going to release the seal and let the chips fall where they may. He told me not to bother because he can't have kids." She let out a mirthless chuckle. "That's why I'm so sore; it's not that he can't have kids, he just didn't want to with me."

"Maybe he didn't know." He ventured.

"No," She looked away, "He knew. He said it with such conviction." She leaned forward, reaching to set the brush on the vanity, her chest brushing his neck. "I remember that day even, he sighed... And sounded so sad." She took his ribbon and slowly stood back up, holding her hands on his shoulders. "Maybe I shouldn't be surprised; he wasn't sad that he couldn't have a family, he was sad that he had to bring himself to that level with me."

"I hope you know, Amarant is still my friend." He said, looking up at her in the mirror as she began pulling his hair into a French braid. "Perhaps I don't know him as well as you do but he and I have been through a lot together. So why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling you this because..." She sighed, "Because I won't be continuing this journey with you."

"WHAT?" He boomed, spinning halfway around in his chair to look at her.

Slowly she braided down to the end of his cinnabar pony tail, which was thankfully long enough to stay in her hands even when he whipped around. "... I loved him..." She said slowly, tying his finely braided hair tightly. "This is just too big for me."

"But, my lady," He pleaded, reaching up and taking her hand. "I cannot do this without you."

She quickly extracted her hand from his. "In case you hadn't noticed, you're barely doing this with me." She took a step back, a veil of solemness falling over her. "I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just following vague signs and dead trails. You'd probably have better luck just pinning a map of the world to a board and throwing a dart at it."

He stood and turned to her. Although she continued backing away, he pursed her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Come now, my lady," He said resolutely, "I have seen your battle prowess, come to know your confidence in the face of adversity. You can overcome, you are bigger than this!" As he spoke he gave her a few gently, reassuring shakes.

His attempt at comfort however shook her hair clip loose. So she reached up, shrugging his hands from her shoulders, and released her tresses in a cascade of semi-formed chestnut curls. "No, Adelbert, I'm really not." She deflated noticeably. "I'm very good at putting on a brave face. But you put on a mask for so long and you forget just how fragile you are behind it. So I'm sorry, I apologize to the very bottom of my heart, but I need to find a hidey hole and-" She suddenly laughed quietly. But as he watched her look away, he could tell it was just a vein attempt to beat back tears. "And cry in it for a while."

He sighed deeply. This was really not going well. Not only because he really did not want to lose his traveling companion but because the tears that ran down this beautiful woman's face were there because of a man he held in very high respect. And she had clearly sacrificed a lot more for said man than he could ever imagine. For what? For him to run off and abandon her? To lie to her and find himself in the arms of another woman? No. She deserved better. Lucky for her, a woman's tears were not something he accepted laying down. "Listen," He began, "I have known Freya for a long time, she and I have shared many things." Lani roughly pulled her hand across her cheeks to clear away the tears and finally looked up at him. "I am familiar with her merits as well as her flaws. She is one of the kindest, bravest, strongest women I know. But what I cannot wrap my mind around is why Amarant would throw you aside for her. Or for anyone." He looked away, not quite sure what he was saying. But it seemed to be working because she fidgeted tensely with her hair clip. "He had something beautiful and wonderful, smart, resourceful and talented right in front of him. He cast aside a gem, perhaps a hot-headed and rough hewn gem, but a gem none-the-less. And you deserve better than to hide in a hole, wallowing in humiliation and guilt. To that end, I shall offer you a deal: Once you have completed the task of assisting me in finding my family, I will help you locate Amarant and allow you to carve ever inch of whatever retribution you feel you deserve out of him."

She smiled weakly. "I don't know, I can imagine some pretty twisted stuff."

"I may come to regret this, but those are my terms."

She wiped her face one more time. "Tempting as it may be, can I have a night to sleep on it?"

"Take all the time you need, my lady, you will find no pressure from me."

"Well..." She paused, puffing up her chest, allowing her self-confident mask to slip into place. "Well, I figure if I need more than one night then your offer must not be that tempting after all."

"For good or ill, will I at least see you in the morning?"

She nodded. "I won't leave without saying good bye."

An awkward silence suddenly enveloped the room. Somehow it seemed that more needed to be said, just neither of them knew what else to say. The fact that Steiner was standing between her and the door certainly didn't help either. "So..." Steiner finally broke the ice after a good minute of tense fidgeting. "Do you know where Amarant is?"

"Dead as far as I care." She answered, raising her hands to collect her hair in a loose bun again.

But this was clearly a social tactic so she wouldn't have to look at him. So he reached out a gentle hand and captured her wrist, forcing her to drop her hair bundle. "Miss Lani, why must you-..." Whatever personal slight he had prepared slid off his tongue when she looked into his eyes with her still misty chocolate colored orbs. He only sighed. _Why must you hold so much sway over me?_ His mind continued though his lips stilled. She gently disengaged her wrist from his tender grip but still regarded him as if waiting for him to finish the question. So he just spouted the first thing that came to his mind. "Why do you never come to Alexandria though it is your hometown?"

"I feel I should remind you, you accused me of lying about that."

"I never doubted you, my lady, my men did. I simply noted your tendencies toward untruths, I never called you a liar."

"Even so," She said, waving her hands dismissively. "I'd really rather not go down that road."

He couldn't argue with that, it was getting pretty late and she had already had an emotionally draining day. But he had already gotten her to divulge so much. So he decided to push his luck. "But, my lady, I simply inquire for a little more information on where you came from. I have never been anything but open and honest with you. Our professional relationship, and I would like to think our friendship, is very important to me. Please do not shut me out."

"Oh, you crafty bastard!" She cursed.

Suddenly a wave of smug satisfaction washed over him. He had rather artfully caught her using her own line. She must be a better influence than he originally thought. Or a worse one.

"You really want to hear it?" She demanded. When he nodded happily, she huffed impatiently and shoved him aside so she could take a seat on the floor facing the bed. She sat down on her heels on the floor, perfect posture, hands demurely folded on her lap. She looked like a servant waiting for an order from her master. Her patience with his confusion only lasted a handful of seconds before she motioned to the bed. "Well? Are you going to join me?"

He deftly stepped around her and took a seat on the edge of the bed. She seemed so out of character, gently regarding him from her position on the floor. Simply putting herself in a place below him seemed uncharacteristic. Then why did the way she move seem so practiced?

"Yes, I was born in Alexandria." She began as if telling a story to a rambunctious child in an attempt to get him to go to bed, "But it is not a period I look back on fondly. You see, because of my family, and I use that term loosely, it was never a place I enjoyed being. I should start by saying then name I was born with is Magdalena Xoana."

"Xoana. So that was your house!" He interrupted as if making a sudden breakthrough. "And Magdalena is a lovely name, why would you want to change it?"

She waved her hand as if asking him to hold his questions. "That story begins and ends with my father. He really didn't like women. At least that's what I tell myself to I don't have to believe he just hated me. Well, me and my mother. They never wed so he had somehow convinced her to, not only live with him, but also bear his child. I have the feeling money exchanged hands."

He looked away. Indentured servitude, even slavery, forcing women to have children was not unheard of. Even in Alexandria. And that broke his heart.

"Whenever we were in his presence, we were to sit quietly on the floor." She motioned to her current position. "We were never to make eye contact and speak only when spoken to."

"I can understand someone tiring of that sort of lifestyle." Steiner commented quietly.

"My mother did just that, and bailed when I was six." She laughed lightly. "Just long enough for me to remember her. And how much it hurt that she left me behind." She looked away, falling into an icy silence.

"What was her name?" He asked helpfully.

"It really doesn't matter, I never want to see her again." Lani continued, keeping her eyes downcast. "She left me in this position alone for eight years." She looked up at him. "What a drag."

"I would say that assessment is appropriate." He agreed. She brought herself to her feet and he found himself trying really hard not to stare as she stretched her tanned, muscular legs.

"Well, I was only under his thumb until I was fourteen. That's how old I was when he finally realized I was not shaping up into the kind of woman he could sell into marriage."

"That is all he wanted from you?"

"Yeah. I think he just saw me as his ticket out of the slums. If he could get me to pass for high society, then he could dupe some kind of dowry out of a stupid or desperate nobleman and live out his pathetic life like a king." She plopped down on the bed next to him. "On my fourteenth birthday he confronted me; said either shape up or get out. So I left. Heh! Joke's on him!"

"You should not disassemble your family simply because you feel like being spiteful."

"That wasn't a family. And I wasn't even his daughter, I was his meal ticket. Leaving him was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made."

Steiner looked over at her. She stared intently at her feet as they played with the dust ruffle on the bed. That was a lie and she knew it. Leaving home is never easy, even when you are unhappy there. "So where did you go?" He continued anyway.

"I went to Treno." She laughed. "Now I now what you're going to say: How could you be so naive? You break one collar only to allow another to be put on? And how dare you fall on the wrong side of the law and get involved in gang affairs? Have you no shame?" She looked over at him. "And I think we've proved pretty conclusively that no, I don't have any shame."

"I was not going to say any of that. I am well aware you have no shame so I do not put it past you that you would settle in a place like Treno. But beyond that, I do not know any of what happened to you there. And what was that about gang affairs?"

"Well, I was only a youngun when I first washed up there. I had no skills and a pretty inflated sense of my place in the world. The city as a whole kind of smacked me back to reality. But in conclusion I ended up being taken in by... Well, the easiest thing to say would be a gang. They would call themselves freedom fighters one day, a brotherhood the next and a soldier company a week later. But long story short they were a gang. Most of them grew up as street punks that banded together as they grew up. They called themselves the East Street Family."

He was rather afraid of the answer but he asked anyway. "What did you do with them?"

"What do any street punks do? Petty thieving, drug running, and... other things."

"What other things?"

She suddenly stilled, her eyes getting distant. "Don't make me say it... Just use your imagination."

"Are you saying you were a-"

"Please, don't make me say it," She cut him off. "That's not an era of my life I'm proud of."

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. It was hard to imagine the kind of social (or even physical) pressure it would take to make a powerful and self-reliant woman like Lani to sell her most personal and intimate possession. She had certainly spent a good portion of her life getting kicked around. That explained quite a bit actually.

"Upon reflection, I feel so stupid spending four years with those jerks. Why do I always have to be ashamed of my life choices? Good Lord!" She suddenly stood up and began pacing the small room. "I mean, first my father then the Family then Amarant. Is it just my lot in life to be kicked around? Is it just my lot in life to be under someone's thumb? To sit quietly in a corner, speaking only when spoken to?" She sat back down in front of him in her subservient pose, her hands folded in front of her. "Is this all there is for me? ...This isn't the life I want..."

"Lani..." He began slowly, again not sure what he was saying but absolutely certain he needed to say it. "If there is one thing I've learned, from my travels with Zidane, from my years as a knight, or even from my short time with you, it is that the future is always yours for the taking." He slowly reached down and took her hand, gently rolling it between his. "Are you going to run from it, thinking everything is already decided because you have perhaps taken a few missteps? Or are you going to chase it down kicking and screaming and make it everything you have always wanted? And you have never struck me as the take things as they come sort of woman." He then brought her hand up to his face, rubbing her knuckles across his clean shaven cheek before flattening out her palm across his face. "Things will get better for you, my Lady," He said, nuzzling it slightly, "Never lose sight of that." Finally, he reached over and ever-so-gently kissed her palm.

She slowly withdrew her hand, looking confused for a moment. But as his words turned over in her head a few times, a giant, almost teary grin spread across her face. Those were the sort of words of encouragement she really needed. And when she rose to her knees, he was expecting her to take her leave. But instead she leaned up into him, returning her hand to his cheek. "My Lady?" He whispered as she drew up on him, placing her lips against his as soft as a feather. This was certainly not what he was expecting so he didn't quite know how to react. "M-m-my Lady..." He stuttered quietly against her lips.

The hand that was on his cheek traced slowly around to the back of his neck, holding him in close as she placed one more feather soft kiss on his mouth. He continued to stutter her name as if somehow that would discourage her from bringing her head around to set a series of kisses along his jaw, ending with the gentlest of nibbles on his earlobe. With her other hand she tenderly but assertively rubbed the outside of his thigh, making his knees unconsciously drift apart giving her more room to press her body up against his.

"M-m-m-my... L-la-lady..." He protested weakly, his head twisting of its own volition, giving her better access to his neck. Every fiber of his being was screaming that this was a bad idea but somehow he just couldn't force his body to push her away. In a valiant effort to not begin caressing her back, he buried his hands in the bed sheet, squeezing until his knuckles turned white.

As he threaded his hands through the folds of the fabric, Lani could feel his whole body tense. In her best effort to relax him, she lowered her head to dance butterfly soft kisses across his collar bone. With one hand, she caressed the small of his back, making him arch his body toward her. Finally he couldn't resist any more so he unthreaded his hands from the bedding and placed them on her sides. She was so warm and soft but so well toned. And she smelled of lavender and polished steel and woman in such a pleasant way. So when she laid her lips on his again, he didn't fight. But when he felt her hands begin undoing the drawstring on his pants, his heart skipped a beat and in a moment of panic he grabbed her and pulled her body tight against his to keep her wandering hands still. "My Lady," He whispered, his voice quivering. "What are you doing?"

She pulled her head loose of his death grip and looked at him with those intense brown eyes. "If you could pull that stick out of your ass and relax for a minute, I would show you." She purred.

Instinctively his arms loosened, but he squeezed his eyes in protest. "But I'm... I'm married! I have a family!"

"You speak as if I care." She whispered in his ear, laying one last kiss on it before continuing her work on his pants. Behind the thin layer of cotton she found his semi-turgid erection. She wrapped her hand around it, giving it a gentle stroke, enjoying the feeling of it getting harder under her fingers. "Hmm, somehow I expected it to be smaller." She mused as it grew to full length and she realized she could barely get her hand all the way around it. "You are just full of surprises today." She then sensually licked her lips and kissed the tip softly.

He gasped as she enveloped the tip of his penis in her mouth. Nobody had ever done something like that to him before. Even without being told, he knew that such acts were dirty and obscene, something never even to be fantasized about. But maybe that belief was worth reassessing he thought as she rolled her tongue over his length before plunging the entirety into her mouth. Why did something that felt so good have to also feel like such a sin? Had he not chided Freya just this afternoon for committing acts of infidelity against Sir Fratley? Was this even an act of infidelity? Beatrix had left him. There was no two ways about that. Had four years alone, four years without knowing the touch of a woman perhaps earned him some wiggle room? He reached down and pulled her hair to one side, watching her head bobbing up and down over his turgid knighthood.

As she pulled him deeper and deeper into her moist orifice, he felt the tip graze the back of her throat. But instead of backing off, she brought one hand up to tightly wrap around his testicles, holding them close to his shaft as she clamped her lips down and sucked with all her might. His head lolled back, losing himself in her hands and her mouth and unmistakably Lani. She was just too much for him, and if she wasn't careful she was going to make him explode. Feeling that growing heat inside him, she pulled away for a second. But only long enough to glance at him through half-lidded eyes and lick her red hued lips before shifting forward slightly and burying him in her mouth again. With a good suck, she felt a tiny salty-sweet drop pull from the tip of his knighthood and took that as a sign. She wrapped one hand around the base and supported the other on the small of his back, making him again arch toward her as she pressed him as deeply as she could inside her and twisted as she gave him one last suck.

He couldn't hold it in any longer and with a heavy grunt allowed himself to cum. But instead of drawing away as he expected, she held him inside her, undulating her tongue as to draw every drop of liquid out of him. Once there was nothing left, he slumped back, catching himself before he hit the mattress. She sat up, finally withdrawing him from her but bringing up her hand to her lip as support as she forced herself to swallow.

"Y-you know..." He said after a moment, forcing himself to sit up. "You did not have to do that."

She laughed lightly, sitting back down on her heels. "Most men find it arousing when I swallow."

"No, I meant you did not have to do any of that." He gently ran his fingers through her hair. "I am not complaining but quite frankly you did not seem to draw much pleasure from it."

A smile spread across her face before she looked down, hiding her face behind her bangs. When she finally did look back up, she sported a sad, almost tortured smile. "You may not want to say stuff like that, Rusty, or at least one of us will get in trouble." She said as she stood up.

"Whatever do you mean?" She ignored him as she turned and walked out the door. He protested and hastily stood up. But the moment his weight was off the bed, he realized he had no feeling in his lower extremities and went crashing face first to the floor. As she exited the room he tried to force his body to obey him but to no avail, his legs were completely useless. "Wait a moment, Miss Lani!"

"Don't worry, this one's on the house." She said as she shut the door and was gone.


	8. Chapter 8

The moment Steiner woke, he hit the ground running. More or less. He had actually spent the night on the floor, unable to make it up to the bed due to his paralyzed limbs. But as soon as he broke through the veil of sleepiness, he managed to will his appendages to obey and took off like a shot. He donned his armor as hastily as he could, leaving about 80% of the straps undone and praying the whole suit didn't fall off as he took off to look for Lani. He had not found previously which room was hers but upon inquiring from the proprietor, he learned she had already paid the bill and left. Damn! This presented a whole new set of problems.

The first thought in his mind was that he needed to speak to her. Above all he needed to confirm that last night actually happened. Without any provocation, without any cajoling or persuasion she had performed illicit sexual acts on him. Ones that left him immobile for the night! Although even that he could look past. There seemed to be more to the act than wanting to immobilize him, more emotion behind it than she stated. And he remained unconvinced that those emotions had anything to do with him. But more than anything else, he wanted to see her, he wanted to talk to her, and he wanted to hold her.

His mind was a giant jumble. He didn't know what he was doing or where he was going until he found himself pounding on Freya's front door. Within moments, the Dragon Knight was at the threshold with a look of concern clouding her rodent face. "You look a mess. Rough night?"

"Lani... Where?" Were the only coherent words he could manage.

"You just missed her, actually." She said, casually leaning on the door frame. "She showed up this morning saying she felt bad for missing dinner last night. So she helped me prepare breakfast and get the children sent off to their lessons."

"Is she still here?" He demanded.

"No, she left maybe twenty minutes ago. Actually, she left something for you." She turned to grab the letter Lani left for the knight off the table. But when she turned back, Steiner was gone.

Only twenty minutes, she couldn't have gotten far. But where could she be heading? There was no way she would be in the city. She had made every effort since arriving to be on her way to anywhere but here. But would she be heading for North Gate or Gizmaluke's Grotto? If she were so inclined, she could go anywhere with a snap of her fingers. He hoped he wasn't too late!

As his mind stumbled over itself, his feet took him sprinting out the city gates and down the main road out of town. The countryside had really changed since the destruction of the Iifa tree and thus halting the production of Mist. The formerly flooded rice fields surrounding the city stood in full glory of the sun, the dirt cracking without constant water supply. The local population was trying its hardest to adjust to the change but it certainly appeared that they had a hard road ahead.

Once he managed to tear his eyes away from the scenery, he realized he was barreling straight toward the ax-wielding woman of his preoccupation. "Miss Lani!" He called out to her.

She stopped momentarily, rolling her eyes upon seeing him. "You certainly know how to make an entrance." She said casually, returning to her confident strides away from the city.

"M-m-my lady," He stammered between ragged breaths. He certainly was not as in shape as he would like. "What is the-"

"Your shoulder guards are coming off." She interrupted.

He growled softly and angrily nudged the offending article back into place as she walked on. "What is the meaning of this, My Lady!" He finally demanded.

"I would say it looks like you got dressed in a hurry."

"I mean the meaning of this!" He gruffly motioned to her walking away from him. "Last night you-"

"I know," She interrupted, "I gave you a toot on the ol' bagpipe. Don't worry about it, I was feeling charitable."

"But, My Lady!"

"Seriously, don't mention it." She said, stopping in her tracks, holding up her hand to silence him. "It's really not a big deal." She glared at him a moment to make her point before continuing down the road as it slowly waned into open grassy field.

"Then you do not know me well at all! You cannot do... such things then tell me to forget them. You cannot leave me on my hotel room floor for the night then expect me to carry on as if nothing has happened!"

"Oh, sorry about that. How are you feeling, by the way?"

"My left leg is still a bit tingly."

"Hmm," She hummed thoughtfully, looking over at him. "It's only supposed to last four hours. I must be losing my touch."

He paused for a minute, confused. "Is that some kind of technique?" He asked offhandedly before shaking his head violently. "You are changing the subject!"

"And clearly it's not working."

"Talk to me, My Lady, something is amiss!"

"Not really."

"Then why, when you left, did you appear as if you were about to cry?" She suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Did I do something wrong? Did I say something that upset you?"

"Don't worry about it, Steiner." She said quietly, turning her head away from him.

"But I do worry." He said, coming up in front of her. He tried to catch her eye although she continued to avoid looking at him. "I would never do anything to harm you, My Lady." Gently he reached down and seized her hand, rolling it gently between his. When she continued avoiding eye contact, he brought up her hand to kiss her fingertips.

Before her hand could even make contact with his lips, she ripped it out of his grip, staring at him angrily. "It has nothing to do with you, OK!" She screeched before stepping around him and stomping on.

He numbly watched her take a few indignant steps, feeling his grip on the whole situation slip. "What have I done that has you so frightened?"

Again, she stopped, all the anger draining from her as she sighed. "Honestly, it has nothing to do with you." She said quietly, her back still turned.

"Perhaps it did not before, but it does now."

She shook her head. "I really don't want to talk about it... The scars are just too fresh."

"...Please, My Lady..."

When she finally turned to him, he regarded her earnestly. In his hand he held her hair brush. She must have forgotten it in his room last night. Damn! When did he get so good at using her own tactics against her? A sad sigh escaped her lips as she again turned away from him and slowly sat cross legged on the ground.

He closed the short gap between them and got down on his knees behind her. Jostling her only slightly, he removed her ax from the harness on her back. Removing his sword from his own back, he set their weapons aside, carefully leaning them on each other. Releasing the clip on the small of her back, he also removed her weapon's rather improvised holding from her body. As the strips of leather fell away, he realized that it also held a set of hand axes against her shoulder blades. This woman certainly was armed to the teeth.

Finally he reached up and removed her head band, folding it neatly and setting it aside with his lone gauntlet along with the rest of their equipment. Her hair was not long by any definition, only barely hanging past her shoulders, but she seemed to take great care to keep it looking good. He had never had much contact with women's hair, only a handful of times when Beatrix was feeling particularly fatigued had she ever asked him to run a brush through it. But it had never been a point of pride to his wife the way it was to the bounty hunter. Beatrix's was rather rough and dry, the handful of grey hairs that popped up over the years allowed to grow. Lani was a different story. Although the lovely chestnut brown was clearly her naturally color, it had been treated in almost every other respect. It was not greasy by any means but it certainly had many different products worked into it. But then again, never had he seen a brush move so smoothly through someone's hair.

She hummed quietly as Steiner's rough hands manipulated her hair. "Not much about you is gentle, huh?"

He pulled his hands away for a moment. "Oh, I apologize, My Lady."

"It's OK, I'm used to dealing with rough men." He let out the faintest of laughs. "I think that's just my problem." He leaned over slightly to try to see her face but she turned away. "I'm sorry, that's not fair; you may say some nasty things but you've never been anything but nice to me." A moment after he returned to his work, she again laughed lightly. "Actually, on second thought, you are pretty nasty to me. But I think that just goes to show just low my standards are." Without turning around, she could tell her was rolling his eyes. "Believe me, I'm not badmouthing you. I mean, come on, you're Adelbert Steiner! You've been in the military since you were sixteen. You formed the princess's personal guard before she was even born and are literally the poster boy for the male influence in Alexandria! Not to mention your otherworldly exploits. So I think a little nastiness is acceptable with that list of accomplishments."

"...I'm not nasty..."

"Lets see, what have you called me so far?-"

"Please, don't start that again." He interrupted.

"So where does that leave me? A failed adventurer? An unemployed bounty hunter? A miserable girl friend?"

"I wish you would not be so down on yourself. You have done nothing wrong?" With that she turned her head around to glare at him. Under her angry stare, he shrank back slightly, nervously fiddling with the hair brush. "OK, so perhaps you have made a few questionable moral choices over the course of your life but... Umm... That does not mean that the life you live now must reflect that..."

"Why can't you just 'Everybody changes' like a normal person." She turned back around so he could continue his work. "I mean, what if I had changed first? What if I had been that different person from the beginning? Then maybe I could honestly call myself Lani Coral without pangs of guilt or notes of irony."

"So this is about Amarant then?" He asked, his hand stopping mid stroke.

"Of course this is about Amarant, that fucking bastard. I wish he had just told me off from the beginning, maybe then my heart wouldn't be breaking so hard right now. I mean, 'Lani, you may be awesome and level-headed and, may I say, strikingly beautiful-"

"Your modesty becomes you." Steiner muttered.

"-but I'm just not into you like that.' Honestly, would that have killed him? Especially since he clearly doesn't care about breaking my heart."

"Maybe he did care about breaking your heart." He said, "Maybe he thought he would hurt you more by telling you he does not love you than by simply saying nothing."

"Please don't defend him..." She said quietly, "I already love him too much... That goddamn jackass."

"If you have such ire for him, what has he done to earn your love?"

"...He saved my life."

"How so?"

"...It was right after I left the Family." She began slowly. "I knew I needed to get out of Treno quick so I didn't really plan where I was going. I think I was headed to Lindblum but I didn't want to go by way of South Gate. Now, I wasn't nearly as formidable a warrior back then as I am now but I could hold my own in a fight. So I figured I'd just hoof it and took off into the mountains. I don't even think I made it to nightfall before I got ambushed."

"By what?"

"Mountain trolls. They sort of came out of every cranny and surrounded me. I assumed they would just kill me but instead they took me back to their village. It was this beautiful adobe city built into the side of the mountain. I'm actually rather surprised they had the technology or the intelligence to make buildings like that. But I didn't get to marvel at it for very long before they shoved me into a windowless cell."

"They locked you up? Whatever for?"

"Thankfully I didn't need to find out, although I had an inkling. I sat alone in that dank room for three days. They didn't even have the decency to feed me. Jerks. What would they have to gain by letting me die of dehydration? I really thought I was going to die, either by turning into a little raisin person or by introspection."

He let out a breath of a laugh. "Death by introspection?"

"Hey, this is me we're talking about here. But as I laid there, I thought a lot and not completely about how hungry I was. And I was pretty hungry.

"So on the third night, they came dragging in another prisoner and put him into the cell next to me. I never got a good look at him but when he got there I tried to look through the little hole that was carved into the wall between our cells. Probably not wise in hindsight because I realized that it was a channel to run off blood from the floor of the cells. That was really when I realized I wasn't going to survive; either I was going to starve or because they were going to kill me. So I just started talking. He never really said anything, but then again, just letting someone hear my story was therapeutic. The only time he spoke was when I asked him if he thought I deserved death because of my pointless, sin filled life. Then he shocked me by reaching through the hole..." She paused for a moment as if collecting her thoughts. "I was surprised by how gentle he was when he took my hand and pulled it over to his side. His tongue was thick when he spoke, I don't know if he had been drugged or gagged or beaten or whatever but he spoke in very broken Common. But he put my hand on his cheek and said 'Don't give up on the future, it's always yours for the making'." She slowly looked down at her hand as if she could still feel his face on her skin. "Then he kissed my palm... And mispronounced my name. He called me Lani instead of Lena... Then we fell asleep holding hands..." Again she took a moment, trying to hold back her tears. "He was gone in the morning. But this time they left me some food. Of course I was so starving I didn't bother to check it over or anything. It took less than ten minutes for the poison in the meal to completely lay me flat. The scary part was that I was fully conscious. Hyper-conscious even. I don't know what drug it was but it was like I could feel every synapse in my brain firing but couldn't force my body to move."

"I know that feeling." He muttered.

"Yeah, but that technique is for the purpose of rifling through people's drawers, not for ritualistic sacrifice."

"They were going to sacrifice you!"

"I'm pretty sure. Again, thankfully I didn't need to find out. Although it nearly killed me when, after two hours of laying there like a giant lump, the wall exploded in... And there he was... Standing against a background of the city burning all around him..."

"Amarant?"

She nodded. "He looked so beautiful and powerful, like a hero from one of Lord Avon's plays. Although he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like I was a giant sack of flour. Probably not something you'd find in a romance story."

"It nevertheless sounds exciting! So you became partners then?"

"In a manner of speaking. It actually took several months for all the poison to leech out of my system. So he took me back to Treno, of all places, and more or less nursed me back to health. I mean, I don't ever think I'll be the picture of health I was back then but at least now my amulet is to help me fight instead of to help me walk.

"So I lived with him for a decent while, getting to know his comings and goings. Particularly his goings." She chuckled lightly. "He really has problems staying in one place. He thought he could give me the slip, but I followed him. He helped me learn how to fight, taught me that my body is my greatest weapon. I may carry a pretty royal ax but, without me, it would be nothing but a hunk of metal. And most of all, he taught me that I make my own future, so I figured there was no point in making it a small or meaningless future. That's why I've never been too shy to do what I takes to get the job done even if it means playing dirty sometimes."

He stopped with a heavy sigh.

"Something I am slowly learning my lesson on." She stated, "But you have to keep in mind, I just don't have the same moral compass you do."

He rolled his eyes but said nothing, there really was no arguing with that.

"So I followed him for about two years, soaking up any lessons he could teach me like a little ax-wielding sponge. But after that, we started to drift apart. I wasn't really a kid anymore so I started sort of striking out on my own as a mercenary. Of course I would try to put myself on the same sort of jobs as him but work and time sort of drove us apart. He worked primarily out of Treno but I don't like Treno so I was working mostly out of Lindblum. I mean, I remember that first stretch of separation, it was maybe six months of being apart.

"Then he came to Lindblum to find me. He told me things just weren't the same without me and that he wanted to work together again... We had never worked together before, I had always been his student, not his partner. Maybe I just totally misinterpreted the situation but I remember being so flattered. Here was this independent, self-sufficient man asking me to be his partner. He could have asked anyone, anyone in the world, but he chose me. I was the one he remembered, I was the one he seeked out, I was the one he wanted. Now, I'm not embarrassed to say that I fell in love with him the first time I saw him, but it was that that really cemented me to him, the knowledge that he chose me. I thought that meant he loved me."

"Do not despair, My Lady, I cannot say I would not have reached the same conclusion."

"Thanks, that means a lot." She hung her head.

He leaned over to see nothing but sadness in her forlorn eyes. There was more to this story. "But?" He prodded.

"Well, I probably should have been tweaked to the truth the first time he... umm... Introduced romance into our relationship. I'll spare you the details-"

"Whatever do you mean?" He cocked his head to the side.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"I will not shy away from any story you wish to tell, My Lady."

She shrugged. "OK." She took a deep breath and took a moment to slowly exhale. "We were on a particularly long and grueling job. If I remember correctly, we were tailing some noble's teenage runaway. He had a chocobo and we were on foot or something but in conclusion, we pulled a couple consecutive all-nighters and absolutely ran ourselves ragged. Or rather I ran myself ragged. I don't know if it has something to do with what he is or something to do with his training or whatever but he only needs two or three hours of sleep per night. We eventually caught the guy and returned him to his family. A tearful reunion and a big pay packet later and we were at the hotel. Needless to say, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow."

"I should hope so."

"Well, it wasn't me falling asleep that is the story, it was me waking up. I woke up to him in bed with me. Now I know he is not a gentle guy but I never expected to wake up to him just going to town on me."

He stopped brushing, taken aback. "Pardon me?"

"I've tried for a really long time not to dwell on it, I mean it was such a long time ago-"

He cut her off by dropping her brush and trying to scurry around in front of her. But he stumbled on his improperly donned armor and fell to his hands and knees. It took a moment of floundering and the unceremonious removal of his slipping shoulder guards but he eventually came around in front of her. "M-m-my Lady!" He sputtered, settling on his knees before her. "If what you say is true, then he raped you!"

She shook her head sadly. "I say again, it was a long time ago-"

"No, My Lady!" He cut her off, "No amount of time dulls the fact that no man has the right to enter your chamber without concent and physically violate you while you sleep-!"

She quietly shushed him, raising her hand to place her index finger over his mouth. Once he stopped talking, her hand slowly traced her fingertips across his slightly stubbly cheek, ending with a gentle grip on his chin. A small, almost sad smile crossed her lips as she stared into his eyes. "I wish there were more men like you in the world, you don't have a vicious bone in your body."

Slowly he reached forward and placed his hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes, leaning into it, seemingly taking great pleasure from his gentle touch. With his other hand, he momentarily caressed the exposed side of her neck before tracing it around to the back in order to pull her against his body in a rather awkward hug. She reached her arms up to wrap around his shoulders, doing nothing to close the space between them. "I don't know what to say, My Lady." He whispered. Suddenly he lost his balance, his knees sliding out from under him before he went tumbling forward. He barely managed to catch himself before his body fell against hers on the sandy ground. "Oh my goodness! I'm sorry, My Lady!" He sputtered as he placed his hands on either side of her. But before he could push himself away, he looked down at the woman below him. Her endless chocolate eyes stared back at him patiently, reflecting only benevolence with a slight come hither gleam. For the slightest of moments, her lower lip tucked between her teeth and her eyes darted away playfully. It was such a tiny motion but it sent a bolt of desire strait to his heart. Slowly, almost painfully so, he leaned down and placed the gentlest of kisses upon her lips.

Her hands rose from where they rested on the ground and came to rest on his shoulders. Somehow she knew if she put any kind of pressure on him, she would scare him off but she couldn't resist giving him a good squeeze. To her surprise, he followed her lead, lowering his body against hers, deepening the kiss. The cold scales of his armor were rather unpleasant as they pressed against the skin of her belly but she nonetheless leaned up into him, accepting his hesitant touches. And hesitant was an accurate word. He moved with a sort of nervousness usually reserved for 15-year-olds. But this was not the nervousness of a beginner, this was something else. Although she could tell that he was beginning to relax slightly when he reached back to caress the knee she had started to rub against his thigh.

But the second said hand found the bottom of her shorts, he snapped back like he'd just been struck by lightning. "I'm sorry, My Lady!" He said, pushing himself up to his knees and looking away. "I-I-I can't do this!"

"Oh, for the love of the Seven Dragons!" Lani bellowed. From below him, she managed to sweep his knee, causing him to crash down against her. Then with her superior speed and grace, she managed to flip him onto his back and before he knew it, she was on top of him, straddling his waist. "What is your problem!"

"My problem is-!" He glared at her for a moment. "That this thing gives you an advantage!" He reached down and tried to struggle the amulet out of her belt. But it must have some trick to it he didn't have the patience to figure out so instead he released the buckle on her hip cape, removing the whole article and throwing it aside angrily.

"What is really bothering you?" She asked more gently, carefully rubbing her hands across his stomach.

"I genuinely mean you no offense, Miss Lani, but I am married, I have a family."

"I mean you no offense, Rusty, but your family is splintered, your wife left you. I'm pretty sure you're the only one who takes your wedding vows seriously."

"You don't understand," He sighed and sat up. He made no attempt to push her off his lap, it seemed more that he wanted to bring himself up to her level. "I am a knight."

"I know you're a knight," She said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, "You won't stop hammering on about it."

"But I don't think you understand what it means to be a knight." He said, removing her arms from his neck but holding onto her wrists. "When I knelt before Queen Brahne and she accepted me as one of her knights, I was saying to her that not only does my sword belong to her but so does my life. My place is defending my queen and country. What my queen wants is what I want. Note that there is no room for me anywhere." As he spoke, his words carried so much passion and conviction. Although it was very clear he was grasping at straws, she didn't have the heart to stop him. "It was beyond my station to ask to wed Beatrix. We were both putting ourselves before our country. Even though Her Majesty Lady Garnet gave us her blessing, even stood next to Beatrix at our wedding, our happiness was not to last... What we want, or at least what I want, just doesn't matter."

She paused for a moment, searching through his dark eyes for some kind of answer. But she sighed and slowly shimmied off his lap. "I feel that I shouldn't have to tell you that we aren't in Alexandria any more, you don't have to worry about what your queen thinks." she said, coming to sit demurely in front of him. "Or that you aren't a knight right now, even if it is only temporary. But I can't make you do anything."

A pained expression flashed across his face as he sighed heavily. It seemed he was regretting his words.

"But I have a favor to ask of you." She said before she lost him.

"Of course, anything."

"I want to know what you want." She said, scooting slightly closer. "For just one moment, forget about everything else. Don't think about Beatrix, don't think about Alexandria, don't even think about me. Tell me... What does Adelbert want?"

_What do I want?_ He thought to himself. _What do I want? I want to not feel guilty all the time. I want to have pride in myself and what I do again. I want to be able to atone for my mistakes. I want... I want... _"I want you, Lani." Was the only thing that escaped his lips.

Slowly he pulled himself up to his knees in front of her. She smiled gently up at him. Her eyes communicated more than any words she could say. Before he could change his mind, she reached out to grab his belt. But he captured her hands in his own, catching her a bit off guard. With painstaking precision, he pulled off her gloves and slowly set them aside.

Again, she reached out for him. Although this time he allowed it, her hands froze when the fingers that wandered up her arms gripped the ends of her sleeves. He looked confused at the series of straps that held her costume to her body and couldn't help but laugh. Her outfit was a bit complicated, especially for someone who didn't even have the ability to figure out her belt buckle. So she reached up and opened the straps on her sleeves. Feeling his next course of action, she also reached back and released the knot on the back of her bustier.

He looked down and saw her bosoms suddenly strain at their bindings. After pulling her sleeve apparatus off her shoulders, he was hit with a wave of self consciousness. Although she was certainly not shy about showing off her skin, somehow he had to give pause as he saw the bloom of her breasts. But just as he reached out for them, he was taken by surprise by her pulling his armor off over his head. He had been so preoccupied that he failed to notice her releasing what few restraints he had bothered to attach that morning. "H-hey!" He sputtered as she feebly threw the suit aside. A lot of her strength had been sapped with the removal of her belt but that certainly hadn't affected her swift hands. "You have to be gentle," He said, gently caressing her chin, "It's been a long time."

"Don't worry, I won't judge." She said playfully as she pulled her body up against his, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

As she gently danced her lips across his neck, he sighed ecstatically and placed his hands on her hips. She had to be the only person in the world who could feel solid yet soft. Somehow just the way she felt under his hands beautifully encapsulated how she projected herself: tough, powerful and strong, shown unmistakably by her ax and her sharp words, but she was not afraid of her softer, feminine side, made obvious by her choice of wardrobe. And it was her femininity he wanted to enjoy, that he wanted her to share. So when his fingers found the end of the strand of her bustier, he only hesitated for a moment before gently pulling the string and releasing her chest from it's well-boned prison.

But before he could even take a moment to take in her beautiful feminine form, his hand ran across an angry scar on her side. It was in fact three scars that ran parallel, starting under her arm and running almost all the way across her left breast. He slowly ran his thumb across the raised marks, his confusion obvious on his face. Lani laughed awkwardly. "I told you we had a complicated relationship." She whispered.

Then it dawned on him: three parallel scars... This was made by Amarant's claws. His heart sank, any respect he had for the man sinking with it. He slowly bent down and kissed each wound, silently promising that that man would never harm her again.

She sighed, no one had ever been so gentle or so loving with her in her entire life. And it felt so wonderful. It felt like the skin under his hands was being set ablaze then being left to smolder as he moved on. Which was doubly true when he buried his face in her hair, drawing her in for a heavy embrace. She returned the motion, her hands tunnelling up under his shirt.

"...M-my Lady..." He whispered.

Although he didn't say it, she could tell he was begging for permission to continue. So she decided to give him the most obvious affirmative she could.

He felt her shifting slightly in his arms and when he looked down, he saw she was shuffling out of her form-hugging shorts. A small smile rose on his lips as her final article slipped over her ankles and joined the growing pile of their discarded clothes. "My Lady..." He whispered again, this time with a little more confidence.

She threw her arms around him, her lips forming a devilish smile. "Good Sir." She said jokingly as he ever so gently laid her on the ground before him. He took a moment to gaze at the beautifully chiseled yet strikingly skinny body before him, noting that a lot of her skin was actually covered with tiny nicks and scars, leading him to wonder just how complicated her relationship with Amarant was. But what drew his attention the most was a 100 gil piece sized dark blue circle sitting right in the middle of the dish of her hips. At first he thought it was a tattoo but as he gently ran his thumb over it, he remembered she talked about it last night.

She could almost hear the thoughts turning over in his head as he caressed her well-toned stomach. "You know," She said as she reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders, "It starts out really pale. You can barely see it, unless you're looking for it. But it gets darker as I get aroused."

He looked down into her deep brown eyes and couldn't keep a smile from spreading across his face. "My Lady," He said as if about to start a speech.

"Shh..." She muttered, silencing him with a shake of her dusky head. "Just shut up and kiss me." With that she pulled his body down against hers, her lips seeking out his.

He got so lost in the feel of her lips and hands and skin it took a few minutes to realize that he was still fully clothed. She had put so much effort into making sure she got undressed, she hadn't lifted a finger to take anything off him. What was she waiting for? Did she not wish for him to feel the same fire she clearly felt? Well, he wasn't going to deprive himself so he reached back and grabbed his shirt by the collar, rather awkwardly pulling it off his body. At first she whined at her suddenly empty arms but couldn't help but marvel once she saw what he had hidden under his shirt. His skin was very pale, probably from always being covered by his full plate armor and thus never seeing the light of day. But, quite likely because of said armor, the muscles of his chest and shoulders absolutely rippled beneath his completely smooth, unmarred skin. She had to admit she had always been extremely impressed by Amarant's physique but he couldn't even hold a candle to the man who now hovered over her. She was actually rather taken aback by how great he looked.

"Is something the matter?" He asked once he realized she was gaping like a fish out of water.

"What?" She asked, snapping herself back to reality. "Nothing, sorry, just enjoying the view." He smiled awkwardly and started backing away. But she placed her hands on his pectorals, effectively halting his withdrawal. She took a moment to take in the man before her. Her French braid from the night before mostly survived but several stray strands of his rusty red hair fell across his face. Clearly he had missed the opportunity to shave this morning so his chin and neck were covered in a decent layer of dark whiskers. She ran her hands over his back, feeling the tensing cords of his muscles as he lowered himself down onto her again. He reached up, his own hand weaving into her chestnut tresses, reminding her of the raw destructive power they could inflict but also just how gentle of a lover he could be. And as his misty grey eyes finally came down to desperately search through hers, she smiled up at him. "Goddamn, you're gorgeous..." She whispered.

He smiled as if that simple statement answered all his questions. With only a slight adjustment he reached down and pulled the draw string on his pants. After only a moment of awkward shimmying, he returned back to his place against her body. There were no barriers between them any more, no matter where either of them touched, they would find the other's skin.

"My Lady." He whispered in her ear as he positioned himself between her legs. In response, she gently brought up her hips to press against his. However the motion seemed to be for naught because as he finally pushed into her, she gasped and arched her back. As he reached her deepest recesses, she realized how long it had been since she had a man in her arms. But when he leaned down to kiss her, she remembered he had to endure without romance even longer. If he still clung to his wedding vows now, there was no way he would have thrown them aside for a quick thrill. Jeez, she thought a month without companionship was hard, she couldn't even imagine what four years alone must feel like.

Slowly he slid his forearm under her neck, propping her up so he could touch his forehead to hers. "My Lady..." He whispered, his eyes getting slightly misty.

She quietly shushed him. With her hands threaded in his hair, she leaned up and kissed him. When he had to pull away for air, she pulled his head own into the crook of her neck and wrapped her legs around him, welcoming him ever deeper into her body as he slowly see-sawed back and forth.

Good God, she felt good. Somehow he thought one person wasn't allowed to feel so pleasant. But somehow he couldn't shake the niggling doubt that this was some sort of act, like last night. But then again, when she walked away last night, she looked so sad. So when he stole a glimpse over at her and saw the absolutely ecstatic look on her face, he knew it was no act. So he allowed himself to increase his pace.

But it took hardly a moment to realize that he wouldn't last long in the maelstrom that was Lani. So he reached down and placed a hand on her hip to try to still her bucking beneath him.

But before he could even whisper her name, she was bombarded with waves of pleasure. All she could do to avoid crying out in ecstasy was dig her nails into his biceps and bite her lip. As her body constricted around him, he couldn't help but release his own pent up energies, thrusting into her mightily a handful more times before he exploded inside her. "Goddamn, it's been a long time!" He wasn't sure if the thought was his own until he felt Lani's chest vibrate with gentle laughter. He pushed himself slightly to look at her, both of their breathing uneven. "You are really something else, Adelbert." She muttered.

He gently traced the flat of his finger down the side of her face. How had he never noticed before just how beautiful this woman was? Slowly he withdrew himself from her body, drawing one more sigh out of her.

She wrapped her arms around him, bringing him back down against her sweat-kissed body. He gently rested his head against her shoulder. As their heart rates returned to normal, they both knew they had crossed a line that couldn't be un-crossed. But maybe if they held each other a little bit longer, they could hold that world away. At least, for that perfect moment, they hoped so.

* * *

Wooh! I don't update nearly often enough...

Well, here it is, next chapter. I feel like a took a few extra creative liberties especially with Lani in this chapter but I feel, and my husband had this same revelation, that it's hard to break Lani's character because even in the game they don't give her much character beyond 'She does what it takes to get the job done'. Now, believe me, I love Lani. She's one of my favorite female Final Fantasy characters, and has more personality in the little time she has on screen than some major characters have in the multiple disks they are around (I'm looking at you, Rinoa!).

And before any of you gnash your teeth and fill my box with hate mail, I want to apologize for some of the things I say about Amarant. But you have to admit, he may be a PC, but he's never really a good guy. After Freya, he's my favorite character in the game but I needed him to fill the antagonist role for this story. Believe me, it's harder for me to write than for any of you to read!


	9. Chapter 9

"OK, before we go in there, I think there are a few things we need to cover." Lani said as the gates of Gizmaluke's Grotto came into view.

"Like what, My Lady?" Steiner asked, slowing to stand next to her. He had spent the entirety of the hike from Burmecia careful to keep Lani one step behind his right shoulder. It was kid of endearing how he stood in such a protective posture when two days ago he would not have hesitated to throw her to the monsters. "I have passed through Gizmaluke's Grotto before. I am aware of the monsters that reside here but I am confident that whatever threat we face, we can overcome."

"Well, monsters we could handle," She said with an awkward laugh as he reached out to place his ungloved hand lovingly on her hip. "But the threat in there is a little more hefty. You know who Ruby is, right?"

"Ruby? The woman from Tantalus?" He asked as her hands came up to rest on his chest. "I believe we have crossed paths a handful of times."

"Well, she moved her mini theater here about two years ago. It's become sort of like a resort that she runs in tandem with Tantalus." Her words began tumbling out faster and faster as she started fiddling with the scales of his armor. "I mean, the place is really nice and everything and I have nothing but respect for Ruby but if she sees us, she's going to ask us to do something for her."

"I see no problem lending a hand to an old acquaintance."

"With Ruby, it wouldn't just be a hand. It would likely be a foot, an arm, and the rest of you too. I'm not talking about helping for an evening. She would sucker us into staying for days, if not weeks. So I, for one, think we should just keep our heads bowed and try to pass quickly and unnoticed."

With a smile on his face, he reached up to gently touch her cheek. "I am not opposed to the idea of resting for a couple of days."

A smile slowly spread across her face as she leaned up to kiss him. But before their lips met, a shrill voice cut across the plains, bringing a look of utter fear to Lani's eyes. "Is that my Lani!?" Ruby bellowed as she came dashing out of the cavern entrance.

Lani gritted her teeth and quickly stepped out of Steiner's arms before the lady actor got within conversation distance. "Well, hello, Ruby." She said as cordially as she could.

"You've been like a ghost lately. How long has it been?" She asked as she approached the travelers.

"Not long enough." Lani said with a smile.

"Oh, you kid." She swatted her hand dismissively at the axe-wielding bounty hunter. "So who's your friend?"

Lani and Steiner slowly glanced at each other. "You don't recognize him?"

"Oh, you know I can't keep all your clients strait. But this one's cute! I'd say hold onto him as long as you can!" she said with a playful wink.

Lani let out a hardy laugh at Steiner's angry eye twitch. "Sorry, I thought you guys had met but I must be mistaken. This is Darien, I met him in Alexandria."

Steiner rounded on Lani, shaking his fists at her angrily, an irate 'My Lady!' escaping his lips.

"But our mission is rather time critical so it's probably best we-"

"My Lady!" Steiner finally interjected, causing Lani to nearly fall over laughing, "How can you not bring yourself to be truthful with a woman you call your friend?! Have you no honor?"

"Oh, my goodness!" Ruby said, placing her hand on the knight's shoulder. "Is that my Steiner?"

"Indeed it is, My Lady." He said, dropping to one knee before her.

"Oh, my goodness! I haven't seen you in years it seems! I hadn't expected your hair to be so long. Or so lovely! And where on Gaia is your armor?" She tittered on as Lani brought herself down from her laughing fit. "But since you're here, I have a favor to ask of you..."

"Here it comes." Lani said, placing her hand on Steiner's shoulder, welcoming him to return to his feet.

"We're doing a performance of 'I Want to be Your Canary' and one of our actors walked off!"

"Damn those Prima Donnas." Lani said with a sarcastic shake of her head.

"I know, that's what I said!" Ruby continued, seemingly oblivious to the other woman's sarcasm." "But I'm finding myself in a bind. I moved a whole bunch of actors around so all the big parts are filled but I'm missing a Prince Schnider."

"I've seen versions of that play that don't have Prince Schnider," Lani said, "What's the big deal?"

"I think we could probably pull it off without him but since we have a man with experience right here..." She turned to Steiner.

Steiner started violently and glanced between the two women in bewildered fear for a moment. "W-w-what!?"

"I saw you on stage the last time Tantalus did this play! I know you weren't exactly prepared for it but you did surprizingly well all things considered!"

"I apologize, My Lady, but I am no actor!"

"I've already trimmed the part down to bare bones, it is literally one line!"

"My Lady, there must be someone else you can call upon..." He took a panicked step back.

"I'm in a desperate place, Mr. Steiner." She said, reaching forward to seize his hand, "Please? Just for tonight?"

Steiner sputtered awkwardly, seeming more and more like a mouse under a glass as the Mistress of Tantalus gazed up at him. But thankfully his moment of embarrassment was brought to an end by a gentle laugh from Lani. "You know what, Ruby?" She began, placing her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "On second thought, he would love to help you."

"What?" They both inquired in unison.

"It's just for a night after all, and we could use the rest anyway."

"My Lady." Steiner said, a hidden level of begging her to reconsider laying between his words.

"Oh, you have no idea how much I appreciate this!" Ruby squealed. "Come on, we need to get you into costume right away!" She said with a gleeful hop before grabbing the knight by the wrist and dragging him behind her into the cavern.

* * *

"Yes, father." Lani said, mirroring Steiner's single line from the evening's entertainment. "What can I say? I was in tears."

"Don't patronize me." Steiner said as he came up through the hatch that led up to the above ground, monster free observation deck of Gizmaluke's Grotto. After the play, Lani had disappeared. Although disappeared may be the wrong word; in an attempt to avoid the crowd of adoring fans, she told Ruby where she would be and made it very clear no one but Steiner should be informed.

"Well, if your aim was to not humiliate yourself, I'd say it was a rousing success."

Steiner rolled his eyes but joined the lady bounty hunter next to the newly erected waist high concrete barrier. "Wow," he uttered as he took in the view. "I never realized how lovely the sunset was."

She let out a content sigh. "This is one of my favorite places around." She slowly leaned forward, resting her elbows on the railing. "In all honesty, this is the only place I've been able to get dependable employment the last couple years. It's been pretty hard getting work without Amarant to cling to. But somehow I always thought it was worth it whenever I got to see the sun disappear behind those mountains." She lowered her eyes to the ground. "It felt like the world was resetting, gave me a moment to hope that tomorrow would be better." He looked over at her, he had never see her look so... distant. She suddenly stood up and smiled although she kept her eyes on the horizon. "Man, you should have seen this place when Cleyra was still standing."

"I'm sure it was striking." He said although in all honesty he had never seen the city of Cleyra. It was a conquest of his country that had fallen at the hands of the woman he married. She never spoke of it but he knew it weighed heavily on her mind. A chill ran all the way to his bones at the implication of the other woman. "My Lady-" He began.

"Oh, I have something for you!" She said as she began searching through her belt pouch. "I meant to give you this before the show but Ruby had her talons in you pretty deep." After a moment, she offered him a small roll of thin, black fabric, tied up with a golden strand. He took a moment to look at the unassuming package, only slightly worried about what kind of gift Lani would give him. She let out a gentle laugh at his reluctance. "Don't worry, it's not going to bite you. Mamy Esa sent me an Infallible Messenger right before we left Burmecia, and it had that."

At the mention of Mamy Esa, his heart suddenly swelled. Could it really be? With an end to his hesitation, he pulled the string on the package and quickly unfurled it. The fabric of the two foot round parcel was misleading thin; for while one side was indeed solid, his arm passed right through the other side as if there was nothing there. Once in the void of the artifact, his hand grazed something heavy and cold. And when he withdrew his appendage, in his hand was his old knight's helm, polished to a mirror shine. "How extraordinary!" He exclaimed. "It looks better than the day it was issued. Outstanding work!" He hastily tucked the helm under his arm and began digging through the remaining pieces. "I cannot wait to put it on. Oh, if Beatrix could see me now..." He sighed. But the moment the words were out of his mouth, he already regretted them.

"Man, you are going to be a great spokesman for Mamy Esa once we get back." She said with a smile.

She certainly was talented at letting slights roll off her back but her eyes spoke loudly of a sadness in her heart. "My Lady-"

"I already know what you want to say and please just save it." She said turning away from him and leaning on the concrete barrier. "Although you are right, we need to address what this is." She turned her head to glance at him, keeping half her face hidden behind her chestnut locks. "I can't say that entertaining the idea of a legit relationship with you wouldn't be awesome but there are a couple rather large elephants in the room we really need to discuss. Not the least of which is my own fault. I broke my cardinal rule and got involved with my work. Made even worse by the fact that this time my work is helping a man find his wife." She slowly released a sigh before finally turning to him. He seemed startled by her sudden motion but tried his hardest to look her in the eye. "So I'll just come out and ask then: what is this?" She asked, reaching out to place her hand on his hip.

At that moment, he was extremely glad to have his hands full. He wanted so bad to wrap his arms around this woman before him, but that desire was cooled by the literal pieces of the life he shared with his wife he already held. And she seemed so distracted by the scales of his armor that she didn't hear the awkward sputters of an answer he conjured while trying not to drop his new armor.

"But then again," She interrupted him before he could continue, "That is even assuming this is anything at all. I mean, lets be honest, we fucked once. It's not like that's the start of a magical relationship. And it's not like we can't just pretend that it didn't happen." She spun around and took a few steps away from him. "Can't say I'd be happy about it but perhaps that's for the best. I mean, I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of a giant shit storm and you just happen to be in it's path." With a sigh she came back around, pausing next to him on her way to the exit. "It's nothing personal."

Although he could see the haste in her movements, he felt like it took an eternity for her to be gone. And the whole time, he couldn't force any words to come out of his mouth. He had so many words he wanted to speak, so many truths she needed to hear for good or ill, but nothing would come. Once she was gone, he turned to the barrier and noisily set down his helm, his weight then falling on his out stretched arms. "GODDAMNIT!" He yelled as loud as his lungs allowed but only the setting sun heard.

* * *

Sorry for the relatively short chapter, this is in fact only half of what I hoped to get posted but with my new job and National Novel Writing Month comming up and I've been neck deep in planning for that and all the other crap going on in my life. Don't worry, I already have the next chapter started, hopefully I can get it done and posted before NaNoWriMo really gets in full swing! Well, happy reading!


	10. Chapter 10

There was something about this day that somehow made it easily the longest night of Lani's life. A lot had happened in not a lot of time. And most of it was turning out to be things she was not comfortable with. It was beginning to feel like this whole adventure was a loss. She had wanted to quit before they even left Burmecia but now that her and Steiner had... done things that couldn't be undone she knew that it was time to bail.

Well, she could say their tryst had simply been a moment of collective weakness: for her because of her inability to realize that a long term relationship was over, and for him because he couldn't stand to see a woman suffering. Why did he have to be so damn noble? Maybe then it would have been easier to just ditch him.

Which was something she had attempted and failed at this morning. If only she hadn't have stopped to talk to Ruby. But then again, if she had taken off, she would have missed seeing him in his new old armor. She was sure her jaw dropped to the floor, he looked so amazing! He looked like some sort of ancient Gaian god now that his chest plate was actually fitted to his torso. Had she been mistaken or had Mamy Esa actually given his abdominal muscles some definition?

Either way, she had been unable to look away as he requested that Ruby allow him to perform again in her play this evening and if it would be acceptable for him to give a monologue he wrote. Of course Ruby accepted and immediately scurried off to arrange an extra practice.

He then turned his eyes on her, looking disheartened as if he knew she meant to leave him behind. Then he took her hand, giving it a good squeeze. The gesture seemed oddly sterile despite the loving look in his eyes. Was he trying to hide his affection in front of other people or was this his bizarre way of saying good bye? She certainly hoped the latter but when he asked her to stay and see the performance she began to doubt it.

And of course she had been unable to deny such a heartfelt request so she now found herself in a darkened theatre, hoping he wouldn't make an ass of himself.

"You shall marry Prince Schneider and that is the end of it!" The actor playing the king said. Oh, yeah, this is the part where she was supposed to pay attention!

All the other actors filed off the stage leaving Steiner alone. He slowly made his way to the center of the stage, a slight tinge of nervousness to his movements. "Oh, Princess Cornelia," He began, "You titter about true love as if you do not see what is before you." He reached up and quickly pulled his helm from his head. A collective sigh released from the audience as his gorgeous cinnamon locks slipped from their metal prison and tumbled down his back.

"Certainly you do not see the true conundrum of the position you occupy. Do you choose the love of your father or the love of the man Marcus? Not an easy decision by any stretch..." He paused for dramatic effect, running his fingers through his hair. "And also a position I wish I did not find myself occupying." His spine straightened out, his body falling to attention. "I accepted the mantle of Knighthood knowing that I was giving up my life for the country of my birth... The country I love... The country I would kill for, the country I would die for. The country I will one day rule... But in my commitment, I have lost myself..."

He turned and walked toward the back of the stage, settling himself on the bottom step of the scenery wall. "I worry not what kind of King I will be," His hand reached back and slowly unsheathed the blade on his back. Wait a minute! Did he actually have his real weapon on stage? "I have lived under the sword, thus I know I shall rule under the sword. But..." He lowered the blade until the end rested on the stage. "The better question is what kind of husband I am- will be." He quickly corrected himself. "Can I truly be a knight, a man of the people, as well as a husband, a man for one woman?" Burying his head in his hand, his voice dropped. Was he actually speaking from the heart? "I have agonized over this since my father dropped this betrothal upon me."

Suddenly his head snapped up, his eyes immediately finding Lani's in the audience. "The princess is naïve to believe that love has never touched my heart, I am a man after all." He extended his hand out toward her and suddenly she felt like she was the only other person in the room. "I have lost so much to obligation, I remain as little but a shell of a man. Part of me wishes that the Lady follow her heart and spare herself this torment. For..." He slowly brought himself to his feet, his sword hanging impotently from his hand. "Sometimes just loving your country is simply not enough..."

* * *

Apparently his addition to the performance had been a hit. He had been approached by scores of well-wishers and smiling faces after the play who wanted to shake his hand and ask about his inspiration. He was not built to be in the center of big crowds and he thanked his lucky stars when Ruby came to his rescue. She informed him that there was a famous critic from Lindblum in the audience and she said his addiction was "The Shizz". Once he figured out what that actually meant, he would probably be flattered.

But the one face he wanted to see was the one that slipped his notice. Lani had not waited around to pass congratulations or harsh judgment or anything. She was like a ghost. He had seen her in the theatre so he knew she had heard his words. And that was what really mattered. Even if he never saw her again, he had left his heart on that stage.

But as he tried his hardest to gain comfort from that thought, worry hung heavy on his heart making sleep elusive. Maybe it was the room. By virtue of how the complex was built, there wasn't much in the way of air circulation. Very few rooms had windows, those few reserved for either the premium and high-paying guests or actors on extended stay. He had gotten the room of the actor he had been pulled in to replace which meant that he did have a window but it was only about the size of a brick. Since it was a moon-less night, the only light cast was from the dim glow of the stars, blanketing everything in mysterious shadows.

Or maybe it was the residual smell of cheap cologne that the previous occupant seemed to favor that hung thick in the air.

It had to be after midnight by now. Too early to truly call this night a bust as sleep went. Perhaps there was some kind of gym or common room he could visit to blow off some steam.

Just as he was about to sit up, the door opened a crack, momentarily casting a thin line of light along th floor. Quick as a bunny, a lonely figure slipped into the room, immediately closing the door again. "Lani? Is that you?" He whispered.

"Shh..." The feminine voice in the darkness shushed him. "I know I shouldn't be here but I wanted to talk to you."

A smile rose on his face as he recognized the bounty hunter's voice. "Lani, it is you! Thank goodness you're here-"

"Shhhhh..." Again, she shushed him, this time her interjection hiding the gentle sound of fabric moving against fabric. "Please, just let me talk." She delicately set herself down on the edge of the bed, her body masked by the inky darkness of the room. "I'm sorry for disappearing on you, I guess there were a lot of things that just didn't want to talk about."

"Believe me, my Lady, I-" He began.

But again, she silenced him, this time by leaning over and placing her finger across his mouth. "I kept telling myself that if I didn't talk about it, then I wouldn't have to think about it" Her hand slowly removed itself, coming around to caress his cheek. "So I've come to a decision: I'm just not going to think about it." Finally pulling herself out of the shadows, she dexterously spread herself across his lap, straddling his waist.

"My Lady!" He sighed, beholding her beautiful, nude form as she sat above him.

"I don't care!" She declared as she smoothed her hands across his bare chest. "I don't care if this is just for now. I don't care if you're going to be back in Beatrix's arms the moment we find her. It doesn't matter if... I know this will only end in tears." She sniffed quietly, was she trying to fight back tears? Hastily she leaned forward, placing her hands on either side of his head. "This just feels too good, please don't take it from me."

As he stared into her eyes, glowing slightly in the starlight, he slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around her shoulders, pulling her body down against his. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, releasing a quaking sigh before carefully kissing his cheek. It was rather amazing just how well she fit into his arms. He comfortingly rubbed his hands across her back, feeling the tense strands of her muscles ripple beneath her skin. It seemed that her shoulders were far better toned than most of the rest of her back. No doubt from her years of wielding her axe.

So for a moment he just held her quivering form against him. What was it that was bringing such emotion to this woman? Was she still grieving over her perceived loss of Amarant? Or had he actually managed to touch her with his words? That would be an accomplishment, he had never seen himself as a charismatic person. Whatever the reason for the sorrow in her words there was nothing but conviction in her heart. So before he could talk himself out of it, he reached down, pulling the strand on his drawstring pants. Not even bothering to sit up, she shimmied them down enough to expose his burgeoning erection. And without hesitation, she adjusted herself for entry and allowed him to slide into her soft center.

He sighed as she buried him up to the hilt in her body, his arms tightening slightly around her. She gently undulated her hips against his, the tiniest of motions causing every muscle in his body to relax. As much as he really tried his hardest not to think about Beatrix while in the presence of Lani, as she slowly began picking up speed, he couldn't help but reflect on the times he shared with his wife.

Beatrix had never been a very physical person. And even in the sparse occasions that the two of them had come together, she had never been one to take the lead. Back then he had wondered if it was because of him. She was such a strong leader when it came to her public life, why did that drive not transfer to her private life? Then again, maybe she was just not a sexual person. Or maybe there was something wrong with him. After all, the life of a knight was a life lived for others, never for the self. So he had always assumed that part of life would just have to fall by the wayside.

But now Lani was here. She may be many things, but Beatrix was not one of them. Where Beatrix was noble and efficient, Lani was brash and aggressive. She was loud and obnoxious, she didn't know how to keep her nose out of other people's business, she was immature and irresponsible and...

And beautiful in every way.

He clamped his hands on her hips, guiding her as she continued to increase her speed. She was right, as horrible as this seemed from the outside, it just felt too right to turn away from.

As she kissed his neck, he didn't fight her. In fact, as she nibbled lightly on his ear lobe, he sighed quietly, turning his head to whisper in her ear. "Mmm, Ms. Lena." He muttered. Upon hearing her birth name, she sat up, reducing her intensity but not stopping. A gentle smile played across his lips. With a careful hand, he reached up and tucked a wily lock of hair behind her ear. "You are so lovely."

With a smirk on her face, she suddenly ground her hips against his and it took a great burst of willpower to not explode inside her. "And you are fucking sexy." She whispered.

His hands rose up to the small of her back, giving just enough gentle pressure to stop the motion of her hips. "Is it so impossible for you to have a little decorum?"

"Not while I'm on top of you." She said in a husky whisper, trying to grind herself against him again. But he held her fast, keeping her still long enough to gently flip them both over so he was on top. Once he settled into an easy rhythm, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down against her. "You know I'm no good at saying nice things."

His right arm tunneled up under her back, coming to support her head as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Try... For me..."

For a moment, she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the tears apparently already welled there to slowly fall from the corners. "You make me feel good inside." She whispered, closing her thighs around his body.

That was all he needed to hear. With gentle force, he pushed himself inside her a handful more times before all feeling reached a climax. A hoarse sigh was the only sound he released as he came inside her. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him against her body and allowing every drop of liquid to drain out of him and into her.

It took several moments before he finally withdrew from her but neither was willing to release their grip on the other. He slowly lowered himself down onto the bed next to her and she snuggled up against him, relishing in the warmth and smell and mere presence of the man in her arms. She knew nothing was solved but at least she had gotten him to submit to the fact that this, whatever it was, was real. And it wasn't going away.


End file.
